Breaking the Rules
by otavarica
Summary: Run by Jiraiya, the Sannin Company strictly bans romantic relationships between its employees. However, rules are naturally made to be broken - secretly, of course. An office AU with quite a few characters and pairings, but focus on KibaHina and ShikaTema.
1. Chapter 1: Rules are meant to be broken

**A/N: I don't own Naruto. I've got _so_ many plot bunnies and this is one of them. :3 Reviews would be appreciated!**

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><p>Whenever a new employee started their job at the Sannin Company, Jiraiya made it extremely clear that any kind of romantic relationships between the employees were absolutely forbidden. A lot of theories regarding the reason for the existence of the rule circled around.<p>

Hyuga Neji was strictly convinced that the rule had existed ever since the foundation of the company, and that it was in fact a wise one, as its aim was to keep work smooth and drama-free. "It's in the best interest of us and the company."

Uzumaki Naruto thought that the current president, Jiraiya, had just had bad luck with the company's employees and was so bitter that he wanted to ban any other romance in the building. "Doesn't he just give you the feeling that he'd try to get it on with the ladies? No?"

Nara Shikamaru had heard a rumor that Jiraiya had, once upon a time, had a fling with the previous vice president, Tsunade, but it hadn't gone too well. According to Shikamaru it was due to this that Jiraiya had then decided that romance and work didn't walk hand in hand, at least in his company. "To be honest I just think he's bitter about the break-up."

Haruno Sakura was convinced that there had, at one point, been a couple within the company, but their public display of affection had distracted everyone else and had therefore been deemed a problem. "It just sounds so romantic!"

No one knew for sure what lied behind the rule, but they did know that it was strict – they had seen Ibiki and Anko get fired after Jiraiya had somehow gotten to know about their relationship, even though they had tried to keep a low profile.

The rules were not to be messed with.

On his first day, Inuzuka Kiba had mostly just checked out his surroundings, trying to memorize a few important locations: his boss's office, the bathroom, the way to get to the cafeteria, and most importantly, his own desk. He shared his little rectangular office with Nara Shikamaru, who didn't seem too talkative, but Kiba quite enjoyed his company anyway, even if his responses to his jokes were nothing to say much about.

"Oi, Shikamaru, check this out." The brunet with his hair tied up raised his tired eyes from his monitor and stared at Kiba, who was balancing a pen on the bridge of his nose. The excited brunet had now been in the company for half a year, and Shikamaru was still not sure of how he felt about him. On one hand he brought some kind of entertainment to the usually dull workplace, but at the same time he was such an annoyance.

"Yes?" Shikamaru asked, unimpressed, with a cocked eyebrow. Kiba pouted and took the pen off his nose.

"You're no fun, all you do is work," the brunet muttered and rested his back against his chair. Shikamaru sighed and returned to his monitor.

"Believe me, if I was as fast at work as you are, I would goof off too," he said and began writing a reply to an e-mail from one of the company's customers. "It just so happens that I'm not." Kiba nodded and stood up, checking over the half-wall into the next rectangular office.

"Yo, Temari, what are you doing?" He rested his arms on the top of the wall and stared intently at the blonde, who merely gave him the finger as a response. Kiba frowned and sat down, defeated. Sometimes he hated being as fast as he was, because he always ended up with no work, which caused his natural restlessness to kick in. He couldn't stay still, but it seemed that everyone else still had a lot of work to do.

"Ah, break time," Kiba breathed as the clock showed 2pm, and was quick to dash to the elevators. Shikamaru slowly put his computer asleep and waited until Temari was done. The blonde stood up and took her wallet, greeting the brunet with a cheerful yet well-controlled smile.

"Let's go, Nara-san," she said politely, and the two left the office area with only professional conversation going on between them until they were in the elevator, just the two of them. "Honestly, this is so much pressure."

"No can do," Shikamaru said and took Temari's hand into his – the elevators were one of the few areas that didn't have any cameras, and the sound before the doors would open always came a couple of seconds early. "It would be more suspicious if we avoided each other."

Temari could only nod. Indeed, in an office as intimate as theirs, it would definitely attract attention if they purposely avoided each other; there was hardly a way for it to go unnoticed. Then again, she couldn't lie – the secret budding relationship of theirs was actually quite thrilling. The blonde was always up for an adventure, and there was definitely a nice feel to the chances of getting caught. She smirked and gave Shikamaru a quick peck on the corner of his mouth before the doors opened and they entered the cafeteria.

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><p>Having been the first one to leave, Kiba was unfortunately also the first one to return. However, when he returned, he saw Jiraiya walking around with an indigo-haired woman he was sure he'd never seen before – and he had seen pretty much all of the company's employees during his bored walks all around the building. She was wearing a neat, blue button-up shirt and beige dress pants with black heels giving her a bit more height. Her hair reached the middle of her back, waving around as she walked.<p>

Kiba walked to his seat silently and sat down, continuing his observation. Jiraiya smiled at the woman and shook her hand.

"Well then, I think we're good. Welcome to the Sannin Company, Hyuga-san," the older male said, his eyes falling to the woman's slightly showing cleavage for a second before he tore his eyes away. "There's an empty desk over there, I don't think Temari will mind."

"Thank you, Jiraiya-sama."

When the woman turned around, which let Kiba see her face, he was stunned, mostly by how she resembled Neji, the current vice president, but also due to her beautiful features. The woman had light red lipstick on and her pale lavender eyes were circled by a small amount of mascara – simple yet seemed to emphasize her features nicely. Her dark hair fell down straight and her hands were gripping her bag in what seemed like a death grip, and Kiba could _smell_ her nervousness.

As the woman walked past, Kiba stood up and leaned against the wall that separated Temari's and his offices from each other. She put her black bag on the neat desk she would be using from now on and sat down, looking around. Instantly, her eyes met Kiba's curious ones.

"A-ah, hello. I'm Hyuga Hinata, a-and I'll be working here from now on," she said nervously and bowed at the brunet. Kiba smiled at her, slightly taken aback by her sudden stutter. He found it a bit cute, though.

"I'm Inuzuka Kiba. Nice to meet you, Hyuga-san," he said with the smile still on his face, which only widened as the pale-eyed woman blushed lightly. "I'll probably be bothering you a lot in the future, but I hope we'll get along."

Hinata nodded timidly and booted her computer. She found it a bit odd that she was to begin working in the afternoon, but it _kind of_ made sense – the whole office area was empty. She doubted that it was as empty in the morning, but now Jiraiya had had a fair amount of time to show her around with no interruption.

Kiba stared at her for a while more before returning to his own computer, just to play solitaire. He really hoped that Shikamaru, or anyone, would come back from the break as soon as possible.

And so they did, nearly all at once. Shikamaru, Temari, Naruto, Lee, Ino and Sakura all exited the elevator, which then went down to get more of the employees from their break, including Neji, whose arrival Kiba was definitely anticipating.

Temari stepped into her office and curiously stared at the pale-eyed female by the desk that had been empty for as long as she'd been working there. Hinata spun on her chair and stood up, offering her hand to Temari.

"I'm Hyuga Hinata and will be working here from now on, nice to meet you," she recited the line she had been practicing for quite a while, this time without a stutter, and smiled in a friendly manner. Temari shook her hand and introduced herself to the new girl. Her eyes had distinct resemblance to those of the vice president's, and the blonde couldn't help but wonder.

"So, what's your specialty?" Temari inquired as she sat down and woke up her computer. Hinata took a seat as well, tilting her head slightly. "We're all hired according to our skills, I'm sure you have one too? Kiba over there is fast at pretty much everything, Shikamaru works diligently and practically makes no mistakes, and I'm the master of punctuality."

Hinata pondered for a while before she lit up in a gentle smile. "Well, I'm pretty good at putting things together… you know, finding the most relevant parts and connecting them to each other."

"There you go," Temari said cheerfully and opened the calendar on her computer, checking what still had to be done that day. "Damn Naruto, that report's due in fifteen minutes…" Hinata observed confusedly as Temari hurriedly stood up and dashed elsewhere. Sighing, she took out some papers Jiraiya had given her earlier, taking note on what her job description exactly included.

_Presentations, researches, communication. Good teamwork skills required._

The indigo-haired nodded to herself, but in the end she came to the conclusion that there was barely anything she could do for the time being. Therefore, instead of trying to entertain herself on the computer, she began writing a list of things she should bring with her the next day: a holder for pens, a stress toy, a desktop calendar and a flower amidst other small decorations.

Neji, who had finally entered the floor, stood by the opening to Temari and Hinata's little office. He cleared his throat, which attracted both Kiba's and Hinata's attention.

"I see you've finally been able to settle down," Neji said with the clear voice of his. Hinata nodded, her pale eyes locked with similar ones.

"Yes, thank you for the opportunity," she said politely and bowed, which confused Kiba for a second as he could've sworn they were related, and what kind of relatives were that reserved around each other?

"No problem. Uh, say hi to your father when you next see him. He's been a great help lately."

Kiba raised an eyebrow at what the vice president had just said, but Hinata only nodded once again, a gentle smile on her lips.

"I will, Neji-nii—ah, Neji-san," she corrected herself, nearly biting her tongue at the slip. Kiba frowned as Neji sneered. Siblings?

"It's okay, Hinata. You'll get used to it. Glad to see you here, though." Neji left without waiting for a reply, but Hinata was used to that kind of actions. Sometimes a reply simply wasn't needed, and this was one of those cases.

Kiba popped his head over the wall again.

"Are you two, like, related?" he asked curiously. He was now rather sure that they were, but being as curious as he was, he wanted details.

"Kiba, don't be an ass and stick your nose into other people's affairs. Have you heard of privacy?" Shikamaru sighed behind him, but Kiba didn't react. Hinata fidgeted for a moment, trying to recall how far she was allowed to reveal her relation to Neji. Not that she would've shared deep details anyway, though.

"We're cousins," she said, happy to be able to talk to the brunet without a stutter. Then again, the sentence wasn't all that long…

Kiba nodded in amazement, still trying to figure out how a woman of such graceful nature could be related to such a humorless man. He couldn't understand, but he didn't think there was a need for him to understand to begin with. Some things were meant to be wondered.

"I see…" the brunet muttered and disappeared from the wall, sitting down on his chair. He flipped an eraser around on his desk with a pencil – solitaire had gotten boring after ten rounds. Shikamaru put his headphones on, as he knew all too well not to ask Kiba to stop. At the worst he would start tapping his nails on the surface just to piss him off, and that was the last thing Shikamaru needed when he was tired from the workday.

Temari huffed as she returned to her seat, practically sweeping sweat off her forehead.

"Did you get it done?" Hinata asked curiously and got a positive answer from the blonde.

"Surprisingly, he had started it already," Temari laughed and crossed a task on her calendar. Only a few more things to be done on time and she was good for the day. This was one of the reasons she had little to no free time at work besides the breaks – she had to constantly make sure that things were being done and that they were also finished on time.

Hinata chuckled. She was glad that so far, she seemed to get along with the person she would most likely spend most of her time with. Temari felt easy to converse with, which was a bit rare for the indigo-haired, who usually felt it rather distressing to establish new contacts. With the blonde there was hardly a problem.

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><p>The clock hit five and people started to leave in small groups. Shikamaru and Temari joined Lee and Gaara, whereas Ino, Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke formed another four-person group. Hinata, new to the workplace, would have to go alone.<p>

Except if it was up to Kiba.

"Where do you live?" the brunet asked curiously, startling the woman who hadn't noticed the man behind her. She felt her heart racing, and a part of her was sincerely hoping that the man wouldn't be so willing to get to know her so fast. She needed time, but Kiba didn't really seem like a patient person.

"Ju-just a few kilometers away," Hinata stuttered, clutching the strap of her bag. Kiba nodded and told her that he lived a bit farther, then proceeded to ask what area she lived in, if she lived alone and how old she was. The woman was taken aback by the seemingly large amount of questions and thought about the answers as the two entered the elevator.

"I-in the very center. I actually li-live with an old schoolmate and a dog… a-and I'm twenty-five," she said and mentally cursed the stutter that didn't seem to leave her alone. Then again, she was well aware that it would go away as soon as she felt comfortable enough around the brunet.

Kiba smiled widely and explained that he had a dog as well, which actually excited Hinata a bit – she loved her little Momo and had established a deep affection towards pets ever since she got her, not that she wouldn't have liked them before. The two talked about their dogs for the rest of the elevator ride, during which Kiba was happy to notice that the woman had begun stuttering less and less.

After exiting the main doors of the building, the two waved each other goodbye as they lived in different directions. And well, Hinata would take a bus whereas Kiba needed his car, anyway.

Hinata spent her twenty minutes in the bus looking out of the window, observing the packed streets full of people just wanting to get home. The bus was rather packed, too, and she was growing slightly anxious about how she'd manage to get out of it on her stop. She sighed and pressed the stop-button, and mumbled a quick "Excuse me" before she stood up and began the adventurous trip from her seat to the middle doors of the bus.

Finally, she stepped on the street and walked to the door to her apartment complex, which was rather close to the bus stop. As soon as she opened the door, she was greeted by her delighted golden retriever. She smiled at the dog and squatted down to greet it properly, mumbling things only she would hear. Momo wagged her tail and gave Hinata's palm a lick. The woman stood up again and looked around the empty apartment. Tenten was taking oddly long to return from work.

Then again, if she knew the brunette at all, she was probably enjoying a car ride with Neji.

So much for obeying the rules.


	2. Chapter 2: Shared work is the best work

**A/N: Thanks for the follows, I'm glad to see that some of you already took interest in this fic. :3 I hope the second chapter won't put you down! Also huge thanks to Azshalaria for her review, it really was a motivation booster. ´w` Anyway, enjoy! + I don't own Naruto.**

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><p>Hinata was one of the first people to be at work the next day – the only ones who had arrived before her were Jiraiya, Neji and Temari. She came in with Tenten, who worked as Neji's assistant, but whereas the indigo-haired woman would have to stay in the large room, the brunette would join the vice president in his office.<p>

Tenten had jokingly said that her job was both the perfect alibi yet also the main reason Jiraiya always had an eye on her and Neji. She was required to spend a lot of time with him, so it wasn't all that suspicious, but if they crossed the teeny-weeny line, they'd be in trouble.

Hinata entered her and Temari's working area and greeted the blonde with a cheerful yet visibly tired smile. Temari, on the contrary, looked shockingly alert, but as soon as Hinata saw the gigantic cup of coffee on her desk, she understood.

"Hyuga-san, could you come here?" Hinata turned around and saw Jiraiya by the door to his office, and nodded quickly. She put her bag and coat down and approached the president, who closed the door after her, encouraging her to take a seat.

"Let's briefly discuss what I expect you to be doing from now on," Jiraiya started while walking to his chair. Hinata blinked a couple of times in order to force her morning sleepiness away – she couldn't afford to miss what was to come. "You'll be in charge of creating most of the presentations we will have to our current and prospective clients. For now I'd say that you'll be working with Inuzuka a lot, so you might want to acquaint him quickly."

Hinata nodded, taking in all the information Jiraiya's raspy voice would pronounce.

"You'll also be the trustee when it comes to research; Neji told me that you're good at analytical thinking, which should be a merit in this job. You'll have a lot of responsibility, but if I've understood correctly, you work well under pressure?" She nodded again, eyes locked with Jiraiya's black orbs. The gray-haired man smiled, handing Hinata a couple of papers. She scrutinized them, noticing that the nearest deadline was only a couple of days away. "Here are your tasks for the month. If you need any help, I'll be available. Neji, too, will be glad to assist you two if needed."

"Thank you, Jiraiya-sama," Hinata said and bowed, clutching the papers in her hands. "I'll be doing my best."

The indigo-haired exited her boss's office and noticed that a lot of people had come to work by then. Most of the offices were filled with their usual people, and even Kiba had appeared, which caused Hinata's heart to skip a beat for a reason she couldn't fathom. Perhaps because she should now make the first move regarding a conversation? And, well, she had never been all that good at that. She approached the particular office and shifted on her feet.

"U-umm, Inuzuka-san?" Her voice was so soft that Kiba didn't even notice her. Shikamaru, however, did, and threw an eraser at the brunet who was still intently staring at his monitor. He winced and glared at Shikamaru, who only pointed at the entrance. Kiba followed his finger to the direction it was pointing at, and his eyes lit as he saw the woman.

"Ah, Hinata! What's up?"

Hinata smiled at the brunet and waved the papers in the air. "I have a project to do with you, and I think we should shortly begin?" Kiba was startled for a brief moment, before he recalled that he had indeed gotten an e-mail from Jiraiya the previous evening regarding his future cooperation with the Hyuga. He stood up and approached her, and also Neji, who was now standing behind his cousin.

"I'll show you two to the conference room you'll get to use while working on the project," the pale-eyed male said and began escorting the unlikely match to the location. The room they entered was empty of people, naturally. There was a large mahogany table, surrounded by a couple dozen of chairs. A smartboard was located at one of the edges of the room, and large windows occupied the two walls that faced the busy streets of Tokyo. A small computer area of two was hidden behind a half-wall near the door, and that was exactly where Neji led the two.

"This should do. Hinata, you have the instructions, right?" Hinata nodded at her cousin. "Good. If you still need any extra help, however, just call Tenten and she'll send me here. If I'm not available, I believe Shikamaru's the next most reliable person to seek. He's got quite a bit of experience from this field."

Kiba and Hinata both nodded in understanding, although the first-mentioned did have experience about presentations, too. Hinata however was still a novice, but Neji was confident that she'd handle it alright – she always did. Even under visibly impossible circumstances she most often managed to keep her cool, which was one of the reasons he had been eager to hire her when she sent in an application. Not that it was only because of his own opinion; Jiraiya had also been rather interested in her. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know if he valued her figure more than her abilities, but the main point was that he had managed to help her by offering her a job.

Neji excused himself and left the two alone. Kiba turned the computers on while Hinata skimmed through the instructions and sat down by the brunet.

"So what exactly are we supposed to do?" the male asked and ran his fingers through his hair and loosened his tie a bit. He was wearing a white button-up with a simple red tie, dark jeans and black shoes, as per usual. The female turned her focused eyes from the text to Kiba's yawning face.

"It seems that the Akatsuki Vacations is interested in quite a few things regarding prospective trips to the west," she said, causing the male to frown. He tilted his head briefly and urged Hinata to continue. "So we should compile information on flight prices, the most affordable good-quality hotels and any kind of extra activities in… ah, Hawaii."

Kiba cracked his knuckles and opened the internet browser on the computer he was sitting in front of, getting straight to business. Hinata observed in fascination as the brunet opened what seemed like a gazillion tabs and began typing different addresses at a fast speed. She let her mouth hang open as she saw site after site open, showing different flight agencies and Hawaiian hotels and sights.

"You really are fast," she muttered quietly, glad that the male missed her words once again. She had to admit, she was impressed, and slightly under pressure. If Kiba lived up to his reputation this well, would she be able to perform with similar quality? Then again, she_ did_ perform well under pressure… It would be fine, right?

Kiba rested his cheek on his hand as he skimmed through the websites, every now and then closing a tab when he deemed the specific site useless. He had a document open where he pasted some information on hotels; their location, prices, room types and any kind of extras they had, such as a free wi-fi. Soon the information was joined by flight prices from different companies, ranked from the highest to lowest as well as the seasonal differences.

Hinata was at a loss of a work, but luckily Kiba was done shockingly soon, which then allowed the two to start doing the real thing – the presentation. Hinata picked up the information the brunet had written and simplified it a bit so that it would fit in a smaller area, played around with fonts and designs and arranged the information so that it proceeded at least somewhat logically.

Hours passed with small chit-chat as the two worked on the project, although Kiba would occasionally discuss something completely irrelevant, such as his dog Akamaru. Not that it bothered Hinata, though – she was actually glad that they had something else to talk about, too.

"He's so cute," she had said in admiration when Kiba showed her the wallpaper of his phone, where he was standing by the large white dog at a beach. The brunet grinned smugly and nodded.

"He's the best," he stated confidently and put his phone back into his pocket. "What's your dog like?"

Hinata smiled gracefully as she got her phone out, going through her photos to an album named after her dog, "Momo." She showed the male a picture Tenten had taken a couple of weeks prior when the dog had turned five, and he let out a fascinated breath. "That's some seriously shiny fur!"

The pale-eyed chuckled and nodded in agreement. Momo really did have shiny fur, as you would expect from a golden retriever.

"How's it coming along?"

The two were startled by the strict voice coming from the door and were met with a pair of tired pale eyes. Hinata was quick to put her phone away, whereas Kiba moved a bit to show the half-ready presentation to the vice president.

"Look at this masterpiece, Hyuga," the brunet said and pointed to the screen, as if Neji hadn't been staring it all along. He walked closer to them and scrutinized the result of their work, mentally correcting Kiba's words into "Hyuga-sama." That was the only way he was able to deal with the lack of honorifics, which he dearly treasured.

"Is it finished?" he asked and got a negative answer from his cousin.

"Not yet, but it should be ready soon," she said and smiled reassuringly. Neji nodded and, as a shock to Kiba, _smiled back _at Hinata.

"That's good. There's no rush though, it doesn't need to be done until Thursday, so you still have all tomorrow to do it," the vice president said and gave the two a pat to their backs before leaving them again. "Oh, and you might want to leave soon, it's almost five already."

The two agreed in unison and began packing up, saving the project and shutting down the computers they had used. Kiba turned to the woman and took a hold of her arm, which caused her to twitch a bit.

"Thanks for today, Hinata. The project went really smoothly," he said and grinned at her, stroking her arm a couple of times before letting her go. Hinata felt her cheeks grow a bit warmer than usual and humbly shook her head.

"I-it's all thanks to you, Inuzuka-san. Without your speed we wouldn't be this far," she said and smiled gratefully at the brunet. Kiba was a bit dumbfound for a second – that had to be the first time someone had genuinely complimented him for his speed. Usually the praise had been overtaken by jealousy, but Hinata seemed to be sincere.

"Uh, thanks, I guess," he said and scratched the back of his head. No, he was not used to compliments. "You weren't so bad yourself, even though you're new and all." Hinata tucked some hair behind her ear and nodded as a thank you.

The two left the conference room and went to their offices in order to shut their computers and retrieve their bags and coats. Most of the people had already left, and the only ones remaining were Neji, Tenten and Temari. The blonde was just crossing out the last task for the day when she noticed Hinata grabbing her coat.

"How was the first day? Straight to business, huh?" she smirked and uncrossed her legs. Hinata nodded and began putting her coat on, buttoning it up slowly.

"It was good, thank you. I think I'll really like it here," Hinata said brightly, genuinely satisfied with the day and the work she had been doing for the past nine hours. Temari stood up, stretched a bit and took her coffee cup in order to wash it soon.

"That's great, then. Neji said that you're ahead of the schedule, too, and that automatically means that I like you," she said with a hint of playfulness in her voice. Hinata was glad to know that the feeling was mutual, as she had grown to like the blonde already as well. Most of the time she didn't quite match with other people, but with Temari it just seemed to click.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Temari-san," she said gently and excused herself, joining Kiba by the elevators. The brunet took in the sight of the dark-haired beauty in her white duffel coat, mentally complimenting her as he didn't dare to say anything aloud. Instead, he turned to her and offered her his phone, a keypad open for her.

"I think we should exchange our numbers," he stated bluntly, amused by Hinata's surprised expression. "For work, you know, and maybe our dogs, too." She felt warmth take over her insides as he gave her another of his playful grins. In exchange she gave him her phone and they both put their numbers in, naming themselves – Kiba with much less seriousness at Hinata, naming himself as "Prince Inuzuka Kiba."

"There you go," he laughed as they traded the phones back. He got back a number professionally named as "Hyuga Hinata," but he already knew that he'd change it later. The elevator doors opened and the two entered, waiting for the doors to close.

"We should have a play date with our dogs," Kiba blurted out, momentarily startling Hinata, whose brain first only registered _date_. Blood ran to her cheeks and she lowered her face into her scarf.

"U-uh, sure, why not," she stuttered and nodded, gaining an excited noise from the male.

"How about Saturday, then? It's a day off and all." Hinata tried to remember if she had something to do on the day, but came to the conclusion that there was nothing. Therefore she nodded at the brunet.

"Should we go to the beach? There's a lot of space there," she suggested, subconsciously influenced by the picture Kiba had shown her earlier. The picture flashed in her mind again, reminding her of the large dog and the very brunet next to her clad in swimming trunks with only a towel around his neck, water gliding on his tanned skin.

Kiba was quick to agree on the proposition, grinning, "It's a date."

"_Play _date," Hinata repeated out loud, although she had only meant to remind herself. Kiba tilted his head as the woman blushed and stammered. "N-n-nothing!" The brunet shrugged it off.

Both of them felt the budding attraction between them. Neither would acknowledge it as they didn't quite register it, but it was there. Kiba found her unusually attractive and she found him surprisingly intriguing, which is much like a miracle considering how open he was. What was there to wonder about? According to Hinata, everything. The feeling was very much mutual, and Kiba couldn't wait to get to know her better. He had high hopes for Saturday, for him and for Akamaru.

The two exited the building and Kiba patted Hinata's back before they separated, getting a soft laugh out of the woman. Goodbyes were bid in a hurry as she then had to run to her bus and he approached his car.

Kiba entered his small apartment and quickly took Akamaru's collar and leash, as he was supposed to be taken out as soon as possible. The dog wagged its tail and Kiba grinned while putting the collar on him.

"You've got a date on Saturday, buddy." Akamaru barked at the statement, wagging his tail with even more vigor. "And with such a gorgeous lady, too." Truth to be told, Kiba wasn't sure if he was talking about the dog or its owner.

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><p>The two started the next day with cups of coffee and returned to the project in the conference room, separated from any noise coming from the office area. Kiba was wearing the clothes from the previous day, whereas Hinata had gone back to her Monday outfit – a blue blouse and beige pants. He was quick to decide that she had just the right legs for pants as he greeted her.<p>

"So, finishing touches today?" he recalled, and Hinata nodded as she sat down. Kiba had already opened the presentation, so the woman was ready to go.

"Uh, do you want to do something about it?" she asked a bit hesitantly, not all that willing to take all the work to herself, not because she didn't want to, but because it didn't feel right to leave the male without anything to do. He sipped his coffee and shook his head.

"You've got a better sense of style, so unless you really need my help, you're good," he stated encouragingly, gaining a relieved smile from Hinata. _Good, so he doesn't mind._

After a little bit of editing here and there, perfecting the design and adding bits of new information, Hinata finally huffed in relief. It was done. "Could you please go over it and say if it's lacking something?"

Kiba snorted and faked a hurt expression for a few seconds. "Are you implying that I'd miss something? No, but sure, I'll check it."

Hinata finally had the time to drink all of her now rather cold coffee, and she couldn't help but wince at the bad taste. She had never been the type to enjoy cold coffee, and it turned out that the particular morning was no exception. The best coffee she could think of was hot, rather strong and with just the right amount of milk, not the cold goo she had in her cup at the moment.

A few minutes later, after Hinata had finally managed to drink all of the disgusting beverage, Kiba finally leaned against his chair. The blunette had noticed that he hadn't made any corrections during his scrutinizing, which she found a good thing. Kiba grinned. "It's perfect." He tried to high-five the girl, but when she hadn't reacted even after several seconds, he embarrassedly stroked his hair as if nothing had happened.

"So, what happens now?" she asked, extremely curious about the future of the project they put so much effort into. Kiba pondered for a while, resting his right ankle on his left knee.

"If I'm correct, Ino and Sasuke will present it to the representatives of the Akatsuki Vacations tomorrow. They're the marketing specialists, one doesn't simply say no to them," Kiba laughed at the memory of the blonde and the raven-head. During the half-year he had spent in the company he hadn't gotten to know them too well, but he had heard stories about their methods, which were rumored to include manipulation of kinds. Oh, well, with their project no manipulation would be needed.

Hinata was a bit upset that they wouldn't be able to present their work themselves, but then again, maybe it was better to let the specialists do it. Who knew, maybe she and Kiba wouldn't be able to be as convincing as Ino and Sasuke, and would miss a deal they would otherwise get. However, it did still feel a bit off to just let someone else have the work she had done with the brunet.

"When's the next project?" Kiba asked curiously and leaned closer to the Hyuga, who was rather focused on her thoughts, which was why she yelped when she saw his face so close to hers. She hurriedly took the papers out of her bag and scanned through the assignments.

"We're supposed to start it on Friday, which is two days from now," she told him, wincing as she read the description. "It seems like a bigger one, and it's due on mid-Monday."

Kiba pouted and put two and two together. "So we'll be working late, I suppose?" Hinata only nodded, feeling a bit defeated. She knew from Tenten's years in the company that sometimes the days would stretch to extensive lengths, but she had definitely not expected it to happen so soon. And she wasn't even anyone's assistant! Tenten would understandably occasionally have to work late because Neji had so much work, but Hinata's only job was to make sure they had things to present their clients.

"Can't be helped," Kiba sighed and stood up, stretched and began approaching the door, by which he then waited for the woman. "I guess we can plan it out a bit tomorrow if you have extra time."

"Will you?"

"I _always_ have extra time." Hinata couldn't help but smile at Kiba's smug grin. Only three days into work and she had already grown fond of the teeth-showing expression that also caused his fangs to show in all their glory. Then again, she had also grown to like the person as a whole. After the first shock due to his immediate friendliness she had started to actually find it quite nice. "Come on, let's go report to Temari."

So the two went, and chuckled at the dumbfound expression on the blonde's face when they had announced that they were done.

"Are you two serious? Like, there's nothing you can improve?" Both of them shook their heads, and Temari turned to cross their task from her calendar, shaking her head. "Even with you, Inuzuka, this just doesn't feel right…"

"Teamwork, Temari, teamwork," Kiba grinned and patted Hinata's back.

"Very well then," the blonde sighed amusedly as the brunet left the women alone and Hinata sat down. She squinted her eyes at the slightly flushed Hyuga. "Damn, you two must really get along."

Hinata nodded a bit shyly and turned her computer on. "I guess our personalities and skills just really complement each other." Temari shrugged.

"I bet they do."

Just as Hinata was about to get to do some research on the next project, she was interrupted by Tenten.

"Hinata-chan, Neji needs you for a moment," the brunette said, but Hinata could see from her face that rather than her cousin, it was her who needed her. She followed her roommate to her cousin's office, closing the door behind herself.

"This is indeed a bit embarrassing, but," Neji began, and Hinata was amused by the rare rosy color of his cheeks. He cleared his throat. "I may or may not need you to be our alibi on Friday."

"What happens on Friday?" the younger Hyuga asked, genuinely curious, although she also wanted to embarrass her beloved cousin even further. Tenten stifled her giggle with her hand.

"Tenten and I are going… out. In case Jiraiya gets a call about us, we need you to convince him that we were both here." Hinata nodded contently.

"Sure, I'll do that," she smiled at the brunet behind the mahogany desk, who relaxed visibly at her words. Tenten hugged her tightly, and she let out a laughter. "How on earth did you two even manage before I came here?"

* * *

><p>Temari sat down by the lunch table and stared at her plate while Shikamaru was still trying to choose food for himself. By the time he arrived at the table, Temari had already started eating, and only smiled at the male.<p>

"So, how's the new girl?" Shikamaru inquired. He hadn't yet gotten to talk with her, so he didn't know, but by the looks of it he would imagine her to be nice.

"She's nice, really. A bit shy, but I'm sure she'll be great company when she gets out of her shell," Temari said before taking another bite from her rice ball.

"I'd bet she's already come out of it with Kiba," Shikamaru sneered and only got a cocked eyebrow from his girlfriend. "Seriously, he's slowed down with his own work, a _lot_. It's like, he actually has to process things. Either the girl feels comfortable around him enough to show her best qualities or the guy's never been close to a girl."

Temari had to cover her mouth as she laughed. "I'd bet on the latter one, he seems… inexperienced, to say the least."

"And get this," Shikamaru began and held a piece of chicken in his chopsticks, "he actually _does_ have experience. Like, apparently he had a girlfriend a few years back, but it ironically fell apart when his dog started to grow?"

"Poor guy," the blonde snickered. She could see it, Kiba standing next to a big dog while a faceless woman walked away from them. It was kind of sad, but also amusing, in a way. "Which reminds me, Hinata has a dog, too."

Shikamaru blinked. "Does she love it?"

Temari rolled her eyes. "Tch, of course she does! If a woman has a pet, she sure as hell loves it."

"Do you think… do you think they would—"

"Who was it that warned the dog-boy from butting into other people's affairs just a couple of days ago? Wait, was that by any chance you?"

Shikamaru sighed and focused on his chicken salad, muttering under his breath. Temari smiled anyway.

"I do, though."

The brunet grinned and looked at his girlfriend with a glint in his eyes. "By next Friday."

"Make it Tuesday."

"It's on, Sabaku. The loser will treat the next dinner."

Temari nodded defiantly. She was fairly confident in this one – a man who hadn't had a girlfriend in a few years and a woman as timid as Hinata, who already seemed to take a liking to the brunet. The win should be easy, especially considering that they had a big project coming up, which would require a lot of work out of work hours. Of course, Shikamaru wasn't aware of that.

The brunet was counting on that Hinata was the type to take things slow. He couldn't see the timid woman allowing Kiba too close in her personal space within only a week, it just didn't seem right. Then again, you could never be so sure.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: There it is. ´w` I honestly doubt that there are companies that do what the Sannin Company does, but well, all is allowed in the world of fiction. ;) Reviews would be appreciated!**


	3. Chapter 3: Before you know it

**A/N: Time for the third chapter~ I hope that the pace doesn't feel too slow, but in case it does, I can already tell that the real business will start next chapter. :3 What's in store for this one: a little flashback starring Hinata, Neji and Tenten and a very,_ very_ long Friday for the main couple. I hope you enjoy this! Also, I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

><p><em>Hinata had just moved in with Tenten, and was now bringing in the last bits of her furniture and clothes with Neji as her help. The brunet carried her bed with her and the two Hyugas put it down in the corner of her new room, huffing as the heavy weight left their arms.<em>

_Tenten leaned against the doorframe with her usual friendly smile on her lips, eyes focused on Neji on the most part. "There's coffee if you two are interested."_

_Hinata's face lit up and she nodded cheerfully while swiping some sweat off her forehead. Neji turned to face the woman by the door, scanned her for a moment and gave her a small, almost unnoticeable smile. "Yes, thank you."_

_The three went to the kitchen, where Tenten poured them coffee and took her own cup into her hands, sitting on the counter. Neji and Hinata sat by the dining table and sipped their coffee._

_"__So, Tenten," Neji began tentatively, as if he was about to take back any and all words that he'd uttered out. "What do you do these days? I haven't seen you since you two graduated, which was… two years ago, if I'm correct?"_

_Tenten nodded and tried to control the budding, giddy feeling in her body that tried its best to make her smile like an idiot. She had, ever since she'd first met Hinata's cousin, kept an eye on him – he attracted her like a magnet, and she wasn't sure if she'd ever be able to fully resist it. _

_"__You're correct. I've been doing a bit of this and a bit of that, but currently I work at a retail store a few blocks away," the brunette said, stealing a glance at Neji, who was sipping his coffee with his eyes closed in appreciation. Hinata was lost in her own thoughts before she got an idea._

_"__Ah, Neji-nii-san! Tenten's actually thinking about getting a new job… didn't you have a spot open?" Tenten started at Hinata's words, immediately alert. Neji put his cup down and recalled that there indeed was a spot open, and if he was correct, it didn't require too much of a degree, either._

_"__Indeed, we do. I need a new assistant," Neji stated with a clear voice, curiously eyeing Tenten. "Do you think you'd be interested?"_

_Tenten had to hide her excitement as she thought about it – working with Neji all day long… she could live with it, no doubt. She was glad that she had chosen working life over college, unlike Hinata; now she was more than free to say yes to the offer. She grinned and gave a positive answer, to which Hinata quietly cheered and Neji nodded in approval._

_"__Great! When can you start?" the male Hyuga asked, giving Tenten a glance that seemed to go straight to her soul. She thought about it for a moment, weighing her options._

_"__In a week, I think. Would that be okay?" _

_"__More than okay, actually."_

_"__Then it's settled."_

_Hinata half-hid behind her cup of coffee – it somehow felt like she didn't exist to the other two, who were only staring at each other straight into the eyes. She had always found Tenten's concealed crush on Neji a bit cute, but even cuter she found Neji's feelings for her. She'd never tell Tenten, but she had always taken note on the disappointment on her cousin's face whenever she came home with a friend other than Tenten – he'd come to the door with an excited expression that would always fall when he saw the friend._

_"__I think I should go home," Neji muttered after taking a look at the clock on the kitchen wall; it was already 9pm and he still had a lot to do. He took his small wallet out of his pocket, took a business card out and handed it to Tenten. "These are my business details, contact me before the week you'll start so that we can go through things in advance. And thanks for the coffee, it was good."_

_Tenten scanned the card and thanked Neji politely, utterly glad that she had managed to land a job so much better than her current one. While she didn't yet know if she preferred an office job over a cashier's, she already had a feeling that she would. Besides, working with Neji would definitely make it even more endurable._

_Hinata and Tenten escorted Neji to the door with coffee cups in their hands. "Thank you for your help, Neji-nii-san," Hinata said and gave him a tight hug, patting him on the back with her free hand. "I'll see you around."_

_"__Tomorrow, actually," Neji said with a hint of amusement in his voice. "Your father has something for you, and I'll be the one bringing it. Call me when you get out of school and I'll come over."_

_Hinata nodded in surprise and tucked some of her indigo hair behind her ear, immediately wondering what that 'something' could be. Neji pulled the zipper of his leather jacket up and waved at Tenten and Hinata before exiting the apartment, much to Tenten's dismay. _

_"__I wonder what it is…" Hinata muttered as she began walking back to the kitchen, Tenten right behind her. The brunette was in her own thoughts, unable to think about much else than the fact that she'd be able to see Neji almost every day in the near future. It excited her to no end, and Hinata was glad to notice that. Some things never changed._

_The next day, fifteen minutes after Hinata had gotten home, Neji had arrived with a golden retriever puppy. Hinata's initial reaction was to squeal, after which she could only adore the puppy since Neji was hesitant to let it go. The puppy stirred a bit in his arms, and the brunet finally handed it to his cousin._

_"__She's so cute," Hinata breathed, brought the puppy to her face and felt its soft fur against her cheek. "What's her name?"_

_Neji leaned against the wall and merely smiled. "It's yours, so you name it."_

_Hinata blinked a couple of times before melting into a wide, bright smile. "Momo it is."_

* * *

><p>Hinata and Kiba spent the Thursday with their own work – Kiba had things to do from the previous day since he had spent it on the project with the Hyuga, and Hinata had some smaller things that she had to do, including replying to a few e-mails she was surprised to have received. She was still new, so she had thought that she wouldn't get any e-mails in a long while, but was proven wrong.<p>

Sasuke and Ino held their presentation in the morning, and Kiba and Hinata got the good news right before lunch – the Akatsuki Vacations had loved it, and therefore the Sannin Company got the deal. Hinata smiled widely at Ino as she broke the news with a confident grin, and Kiba was filled with confidence, too.

"Good job on it, we didn't have to do any additional convincing this time," Ino winked at Hinata before she left for lunch, leaving the taken, slightly blushing woman behind her. She was so, so glad that her first project had gone so well, as she had feared that it wasn't good enough. Neji congratulated her with pride on his way downstairs, and not much later, Kiba was waiting for her by the entrance to her and Temari's small office.

"Ah, Inuzuka-san," Hinata began in surprise, and the brunet was quick to suggest she'd drop the honorific and switch to his first name altogether. She nodded, a bit embarrassed, and walked to the elevators with him. She fiddled a bit with the hem of her black skirt and looked up to Kiba as the elevator doors closed. "D-do you want to eat lunch with me?"

Kiba merely smiled at her. "That kind of is why I was waiting for you." Hinata blushed a bit and smiled, happy to have company for the first time; Neji spent his breaks with Tenten due to 'work-related reasons' and Temari seemed to stick with Shikamaru quite a bit. And besides, Hinata usually ate at a different time than the others, anyway.

During the lunch, the two talked casually about their upcoming project, their dogs and the play date on Saturday, but in the end the topics concentrated more on the two last ones as they both wanted to have a break from work.

"When should we meet on Saturday?" Kiba asked, visibly excited about the idea of going to the beach with Hinata and their dogs. The blunette twirled some noodles on her chopsticks before moving her eyes from her food to Kiba's expectant eyes.

"Depends on how late we work tomorrow," she said and sighed lightly. She was still a bit upset about having to finish the project so fast, but she didn't really want to complain – it kind of was what she had signed up for, after all.

"Let's try to keep it short, then," Kiba grinned and kept munching on his rice ball. "But we could set a tentative time at… let's say, 4pm?"

Hinata nodded with a smile. "It's a deal."

Kiba truly enjoyed the sight of Hinata smiling, a lot more than he would admit. There was something very attractive in the way her lips curved, causing her eyes to narrow and sometimes showing some of her white teeth. He slightly wondered if she ever paid that kind of attention to his expression, but in the end he discarded the thought as an impossibility. However, at the same time, Hinata caught herself lost in staring at Kiba's fangs as he grinned at her, seemingly unconsciously. She blushed lightly and focused her eyes back on the food in front of her, ashamed of the possibility of having been caught (which she wasn't).

Kiba took a look at his watch and sighed. "Looks like the break's almost over, I think we should return soon." Hinata nodded and picked up her eating speed, finishing her portion rather quickly. Kiba had just finished his lunch as well, and so the two returned upstairs after taking the trash and dishes away.

As Hinata entered her and Temari's little office, the blonde swiftly moved to her with her wheeled chair, giving her a knowing look. Hinata raised her eyebrows in a questioning manner, which caused Temari to half-roll her eyes. "Something going on between you and Inuzuka?"

Temari noticed the immediate rush of blood on the blunette's face and grinned, but Hinata was determined to convince her that that was not the case. "N-no, we're just… we just have a lot of projects coming up together. B-besides, we've only known each other for four days, and there's the rule…" Her voice weakened towards the end of the sentence, but she had such a determined expression that Temari was nearly amused. It was so cute that there was at least one employee who was openly concerned about the rule - if someone else was, they were definitely not vocal about it.

"Oh, honey, you'll see how things are _very _soon," Temari winked at her co-worker; she'd seen the way Kiba followed her with his gaze, consciously or not, as well as the way the girl seemed to brighten up remarkably in the brunet's presence. Every time Hinata walked past the office next to theirs, the brunet tore his eyes off his monitor and followed her instead, writing blindly albeit flawlessly.

Hinata was still confused, but more than that, embarrassed, when she returned to her work. Temari patted her shoulder with a cheery laugh, wheeled to her desk and returned to work with innocent, casual whistling.

On the other side of the half-wall, Shikamaru was staring at Kiba intently. He had entered the office in high spirits, but as soon as he opened his work where he had left off, it all dropped. While it did seem natural that one would lose excitement upon starting working, Kiba had hardly ever been one to behave that way.

"Everything okay, man?" he asked, and when Kiba didn't reply, he moved to him with his wheeled chair and tapped his shoulder. The daydreaming brunet jumped and turned to face Shikamaru with large eyes, pouting.

"No need to scare me, sheesh," he muttered and pushed Shikamaru away, then focused his attention on him. Shikamaru closed and opened his eyes slowly, staring at Kiba.

"Is everything okay? You've been a bit off today," he asked, attempting to sound worried, when in fact he was mostly only curious. Kiba ran his fingers through his hair and nodded, surprised that Shikamaru would worry about him.

"No need to worry, I'm as good as ever," the younger brunet grinned reassuringly. Shikamaru nodded, but he wasn't done yet – his curiosity wasn't anywhere near satisfied. He had his own suspicions, but he wanted confirmation.

"So… what are your thoughts on the new Hyuga?" he asked as nonchalantly as he could and hoped that Kiba wouldn't get too skeptical on what he'd do with the information. Shikamaru immediately took note on the brightening expression on the brunet's face.

"She's cool, we get along really well," Kiba stated excitedly, not sensing any of Shikamaru's overflowing curiosity, which was a benefit to him. The brunet with his hair tied up narrowed his eyes. _Just how well_, he wondered and slowly moved away from the Inuzuka.

Shikamaru never got proper answers, but he did keep paying more and more attention to Kiba's behavior, just like Temari intently observed Hinata's. Both of them were concerned about their bet, Temari a lot less than Shikamaru, as she was convinced that by Tuesday, the two would've gotten feelings for each other and would be remarkably closer. Seeing the way Kiba was behaving already, Shikamaru was getting a bit nervous, as little as paying for a single dinner would harm him. It was his pride on the plate, not so much the money.

Thursday passed smoothly, and by the end Hinata and Kiba had both managed to sketch some kind of an outline for the project they would start the next day. Both concealed an excited heart in their chest when they went to bed, glad to be able to spend another full day with the other one.

* * *

><p>Hinata and Kiba arrived at work around the same time on Friday and greeted each other with tired smiles – neither had been able to sleep all that well.<p>

"Are you ready for the challenge?" Kiba asked teasingly, referring to the project with a somewhat tight schedule. With the previous one they had had three full days, for this they had one and a half; he sensed that neither was willing to work on the weekend, so that was all they had. Hinata nodded with a defeated sigh, leaning against the elevator wall as they began to ascend.

"I trust that you'll be able to save us some time this time around, too," the Hyuga said with a hopeful tone, gracing him with an angelic smile, which worked as a good confidence booster for Kiba.

"I can't guarantee anything, but I'll do my best," the brunet grinned and as if out of habit stroked Hinata's arm gently, causing the woman to startle. Kiba noticed this and pulled his hand away in embarrassment, moving his gaze to the floor. "Uh, sorry about that."

Hinata tried to control her blush, naturally in vain, and only hoped that the electricity that had went through her body with the touch would go away soon. "I-it's okay, I simply wasn't expecting that."

Kiba laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. "That's good, I was afraid I'd make things awkward." Hinata shook her head rapidly and practically ran out of the elevator as soon as the doors opened, hoping to calm herself down while waiting for the work time to actually start – it was still only ten to eight. Kiba sighed and walked to his own seat, slapping his cheeks after he had gotten rid of his coat.

"Get a grip, Kiba," he mumbled to himself and shut his eyes for a moment in an attempt to let the embarrassment to just magically wash away.

Shortly after eight, Hinata appeared by the entrance with a pile of paper and a soft smile on her lips, seemingly over the small incident. "Kiba, it's time." Kiba finally opened his eyes upon hearing her voice and stood up with such speed that his chair fell down; unlike most of the other workers, he had a traditional chair. With a slight rosy color running up to his cheeks, he picked the chair back up and the two walked to the conference room, where Neji was waiting, leaning against the large mahogany desk.

"Good morning," the vice president said with a slightly groggy voice, receiving similar words from the two. He had some papers in his hands as well, and he went through them quickly in order to be able to give Hinata and Kiba accurate guidance.

"What you will start today is, in short, a compilation of vacation destinations in Europe for the Orochi Inc.," Neji said and raised his eyes from the papers to the two subjects. "It's almost the same as what you did previously, but in a larger scale. Do you think you can handle it?"

Hinata felt a bit troubled, knowing the size of Europe, but Kiba felt confident and immediately gave Neji a positive answer. Hinata's eyes widened as the brunet stated that the two would finish the presentation well before the deadline.

"I-I think Kiba's exaggerating a bit," Hinata squeaked, only to see Kiba shake his head.

"No, I'm serious. I refuse to return to this on a busy Monday morning. We'll get it done today," Kiba stated seriously, with determination that neither Neji nor Hinata had seen before; the latter one for obvious reasons. Neji, however, was taken aback and had an impressed look on his face as he chuckled and stood up.

"Very well then. I wish you two good luck, and remember, you are allowed to work well into the night as long as you make sure that the office is in order when you leave. If needed, you can even stay for the night, we've got quilts and everything for that," Neji explained monotonously, feeling as if he'd repeated the same words for a million times during his years as the vice president. Well, maybe not a million, but he had truly repeated them _a lot_.

"Thank you," Kiba and Hinata said in unison as Neji left, and when the door was shut, Hinata turned to Kiba openly, staring into his eyes curiously and almost worriedly.

"For how long do you plan on keeping me here? There is no way we'll finish it tonight," Hinata pointed out rather nervously, fiddling with her fingers. It would've been okay if it was only a goal that Kiba had set for himself, but that he had stated it in front of Neji, who was now expecting it to turn into reality… they would be screwed.

"Calm down, calm down. I've got a plan," Kiba assured her, placing his hands on Hinata's shoulders. She shivered ever-so-slightly at the touch and kept giving the brunet an expectant look, only to receive an intent stare back into her lavender orbs. "Trust me in this. If we have to stay for the night, I'll find a way to make it up to you, since it is my fault. Just calm down and it'll be okay, Hinata."

The lavender-eyed woman felt a giddy feeling building in her stomach when he pronounced her name, and only nodded. She still wasn't sure if they'd be able to make it, but Kiba's voice had such a level of reassurance that she felt a bit more hopeful than before, and that had to be enough.

"Well then, let's get to work," she smiled and took Kiba's hands off her shoulders, moving to the computers with her heart beating rapidly. The brunet took a seat next to her and opened the computer he would use, instantly opening the internet. Hinata opened a word document before bothering with a presentation file and began typing out popular resorts in Europe, including places such as Italy, France and the Great Britain, which she knew were well liked. Realizing that they'd have to have some new information as well, she poked Kiba's arm with her forefinger.

"Could you look up some European countries that seem likely to be popular in the future?" she pleaded, and Kiba nodded. He couldn't say no, and besides, it was his job anyway. Turned out that quite a few countries had steadily been increasing their popularity, and therefore Kiba saw it beneficial to gather as much information on them as possible, from the country itself to the average flight prices.

While Kiba was focusing on the research, Hinata began creating slides for different countries, choosing some elements for the presentation based on what she knew about the client – dark colors and simplified information. She put her hair up into a high bun so that it wouldn't heat her neck up so much, and she was ready to go.

Hours passed, and the two spent a short lunch together in the cafeteria, this time discussing only the project, taking a few notes on what they would do and in what order. More hours passed after the lunch, and while the two were progressing well, they still had painfully much to do.

They were checked up on a few times during the day, once by Neji, once by Tenten, and a couple of times secretly by Temari. She'd heard about Kiba's declaration from an amused Neji, and she had her own interest in it, too, and was impressed to see how far they'd gotten in quite a short time. She did still feel a bit sorry for them - she knew for sure that if she'd had such a project with such a deadline, she would've thrown a tantrum. Yet there they were, working in perfect cooperation without complaints.

She'd nodded approvingly, but then she had felt Shikamaru's hand brushing against her hip. "How are they doing?" She turned to face the brunet, who kept a reasonable distance between them, his hand already back by his side. She turned around to face her boyfriend and gave him her trademark smirk.

"Very well, Nara-san. They might be the best combination I've seen in a while," she said, obviously with a hidden message shouting '_I'm so going to win this bet!_' Shikamaru merely shrugged, and before the two went to the crowded office area, took Temari's hand into his for a brief moment, fishing for eye contact.

"How'd a date sound, tonight? At my place," he suggested with a low voice in order to prevent anyone else from hearing it – throughout the years he'd come to the conclusion that even the walls had ears. Temari smiled as professionally as she could, as she was facing the offices, and brushed the back of Shikamaru's palm with her thumb before breaking free.

"I'd love that," she replied, and Shikamaru gave her back a tired smile. He was tired, but there was no night he'd say no to Temari's company, and especially now that they hadn't had too much time alone for a whole week, he was craving for it. The two returned to work in silence, glancing at the clock anxiously every now and then. An hour and they would be free.

Meanwhile, Kiba and Hinata knew that they wouldn't get out of work anywhere near the usual five. Kiba had made a deal with Naruto about taking Akamaru out when he was unable to, and Hinata was extremely thankful for her little sister Hanabi – she'd agreed to take Momo out twice during the day with only one demand: to get the apartment to herself and her boyfriend for the day in exchange. Since Tenten had plans with Neji and probably wouldn't go home for the night anyway, Hinata had seen no reason to decline.

By six the two had managed to connect together a bit over half of the countries, and Hinata couldn't help but huff. If that had taken ten hours, just what would the rest of the evening become? Kiba snorted.

"Honestly, I'm so sorry about this. I'll keep my mouth shut next time," he said amusedly and ran his fingers through his brown hair while loosening his tie. With no one else at work besides Hinata and him, there was no reason for him to look all professional anymore. The blunette smiled and kept typing in the information Kiba had gathered.

"It's okay," she said softly, trying to believe in her words to the best of her ability. "If you just could speed up a little bit..."

Kiba took the hint and increased his speed remarkably, nearly startling Hinata. Due to this, the presentation began flowing half as fast as it had earlier, and by ten there was a light to be seen at the end of the tunnel. The two had gotten some simple dinner from a vending machine a few hours earlier, and were now content, yet also very tired. Fourteen hours of work didn't settle well with the body of either, especially after a badly slept night.

Hinata started feeling drowsy around 10:30pm; her eyelids kept falling shut as her breath got more relaxed and slow, and it didn't take long for her to drift into sleep. Kiba noticed this with a smile, and it wasn't really a surprise to him that she'd feel that tired – she had looked extremely tired for the whole day, and even the many cups of coffee didn't seem to improve the situation.

The brunet stood up and went to the empty office area to retrieve a gray quilt that he put over Hinata's shoulders when he got back to the conference room. He sat down and leaned his chin against his hand, spending a good few minutes merely observing the sleeping woman; the way her slender shoulders moved up and down with her inhales and exhales, the way her hair, the bun long gone, slowly began covering her face (which he quickly fixed), the way her beauty was only enhanced with the closed eyes and calm expression.

He grew warm inside and couldn't help his smile widening; she was adorable, as simple as that. When she stirred in her sleep some time later, he shook his head, opened the presentation on his computer and finished it a bit after midnight. He was kept awake solely with the power of coffee, and as soon as he was done, he went to get himself a quilt and took a comfortable position on his chair next to Hinata, leaning against the desk and moving just a little bit closer to her.

With their elbows touching ever-so-slightly, Kiba felt content enough to close his eyes and whisper a quiet "good night" to the sleeping Hyuga. Naturally, he didn't get an answer, but Hinata smiled in her sleep, which Kiba was more or less starring in.

Silence fell over the conference room as the two slept calmly after an awfully long day neither wanted to re-do. Next time Kiba would keep his mouth shut, or at least Hinata would make sure that he didn't say anything related to a tighter deadline than necessary.

What comforted her was that Kiba would make it up to her, and she sure as hell would make sure that he'd keep his word – she was sure she'd never had as sore shoulders as she had the next morning.

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><p><strong>AN: This fic is so much fun to write. ;w; Please feel free to review if you have time, I'd love to know if there's something that you like or something I could improve at. :3**


	4. Chapter 4: Walks by the beach

**A/N: Thank you _so_ much for the reviews and follows, I was really glad to receive them! ^^ As for the _Guest_ reviewer, I would love to write longer chapters, but I'm afraid I'd make them too long. D: Also, I'm really sorry for the delayed update, but school got really hectic, so I wasn't able to write as much as I would've wanted. Things should change soon enough, though, since the Christmas holiday is on its way and school should be easier, too. **

**Anyway, the chapter kicks off with ShikaTema - if you're a friend of the ship, I hope you enjoy, and if not, you can always skip~ I hope you like the chapter! :) + I don't own Naruto.**

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><p>After work, Shikamaru and Temari had gone separate ways, but agreed on her coming to his place later in the evening. Especially the brunet was anticipating this, as the night would be the one he would go out of his way and offer Temari a hand-made dinner instead of simply taking her out.<p>

The time he was alone he spent cleaning up and cooking – he had figured out that since Temari liked pasta and carbonara happened to be his bravura, he might as well cook just that. Although he wasn't much of a romantic, tonight he decided to make an exception; he had strawberries with a chocolate coat for dessert, and a selection of movies for Temari to choose from, and the dinner table was decorated with a couple of candles he'd gotten from his mother when he first moved to his own place, and a bunch of roses were standing in a vase.

To say that Shikamaru was satisfied with what he had arranged would be an understatement. He was bubbling with the excitement to see Temari's face, partially because he knew that she wasn't much of a romantic either. Oh well, all he could do was to just hope for the best, which was that she would at least appreciate the effort he'd put into it.

The bell rang and the brunet was quick to open it and snatch his girlfriend inside. Temari smirked and wrapped her arms around Shikamaru's neck, kissing him with passion. He pulled her closer by the hips and held her close, caressing her lips with his.

As the kiss broke, Temari pulled away and revealed a bottle of wine from her bag.

"Thought I'd bring something other than myself," she smiled and gave Shikamaru's cheek a peck. He took the bottle and went to the dining table, which he then leant against and watched the blonde take off her coat and reveal a black dress that went down to her mid-thigh. Her neck was decorated with a silver necklace that Shikamaru had bought her on her birthday a month prior, and her hair was down and free, just the way Shikamaru liked it.

He whistled and got a glare from Temari, which he shrugged off. "You look good," he said as she walked to him, grabbing the collar of his black button-up shirt.

"Like I usually don't," she whispered, lips close to his, and pressed a soft kiss onto them. The brunet smiled against her lips and smacked her butt, making her yelp.

"I'd love to continue this, dear, but the food's gonna get cold," he said with a low voice and stood up, lingering his hand on Temari's hip. She pouted and took a seat, starting to open the wine bottle while Shikamaru went to get their ready plates from the kitchen. The blonde's expression brightened visibly when she saw what he had cooked, and he was more than glad to adore the view of a delighted Temari; the way her lips curved and the area around her eyes wrinkled.

"And this is exactly why I love you," she said contently as she tasted the first bit of the food. Shikamaru was resting his chin on his hand and held his glass of wine in his other hand as he merely took in the sight, as content as he could possibly be.

"Knew you'd like it," he smiled and took a sip of the liquid before starting his own food.

The two ate with a casual conversation and eye game passing between them, and Temari relished every last bit of the carbonara Shikamaru had cooked. She had only tasted his cooking once before, and that hadn't been more than noodles with chicken and vegetables, so she tended not to count it in.

As they finished, Shikamaru proceeded to take the empty plates to the kitchen where he put them into the dishwasher and took the strawberries out of his fridge. When he returned to the joint dining and living room, he saw Temari sitting on the couch with her legs crossed.

"What do you have there?" she asked with a playful tone and tried to raise her head to see better, which naturally proved to be futile. Shikamaru grinned and went to her with the bowl behind his back. He sat down and took a finger to Temari's lips.

"Close your eyes." She did as was asked, and the brunet took a strawberry, bringing it to Temari's lips. She opened them, but he wouldn't let her get it so easy – instead of letting the strawberry enter her mouth, Shikamaru held it firmly, let it move around her full lips, before he finally let her tongue snatch it. She chewed and sighed contently, opening her eyes.

"More," she demanded and opened her mouth again. Shikamaru shook his head amusedly and took another strawberry, playing with it in a similar manner he had earlier. Only, this time Temari was quicker to snatch it, and to kiss him as soon as the strawberry was in her mouth. She sneaked the fruit into Shikamaru's mouth and smirked against his lips, pecking them as she pulled back. "Two can play this game."

The brunet pulled his girlfriend closer and put the bowl of chocolate-coated strawberries on his coffee table. "Do you want to watch a movie, or would you prefer doing something else?" he asked and took his fingers through Temari's smooth hair, circling a few locks around his fingers.

"I would _love_ to," she began and brought her lips close to Shikamaru's, grazing them against his, only to pull back, "watch a movie. You should know me better than to even ask." She grinned and leaned over the coffee table, where Shikamaru had sprawled out a small collection of movies that could potentially suit Temari's taste. Once she'd set her mind on an action movie, she put it into the DVD player and took a comfortable seat next to Shikamaru, the strawberry bowl on her lap.

"You do understand that the dessert's gonna be a huge distraction, right?" the brunet half-laughed, and Temari elbowed him gently.

"Nothing will distract me from an action movie, Shikamaru. _Nothing_."

Shikamaru smirked and put his hand on her thigh, squeezing it. "We'll see about that." Temari gave him a playful grin, with her other eyebrow cocked slightly.

"You can try."

And the brunet was, as usual, up for a challenge.

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><p>Kiba stirred in his sleep and was slowly pulled into an awake state by Hinata's quiet voice. As soon as he was awake enough to register simple things, he understood that she was talking to someone, most likely over the phone.<p>

"I'm really sorry, Hanabi, but I'm still at work. I know that you stayed over, so could you take Momo out for me? I'll make it up to you, I promise. Mm, I'll see you soon."

Slowly, Kiba straightened his back and let the quilt fall down his back. Hinata heard the small shift of fabric and turned her face from her phone to the groggy male.

"Good morning, Kiba," she said and smiled politely, putting her cellphone back into the bag she had taken it from. Kiba yawned loudly and wished her a good morning as well, rubbing his eyes. Hinata leaned against the mahogany desk her bag was on and massaged her right, painfully stiff, sore shoulder muscle. "Um, how is the project? I'm so sorry for falling asleep all of a sudden…"

The brunet moved his hand in the air as if to tell her not to worry. "Don't worry, you're not the first one nor will you be the last one to do that. Besides, I finished the presentation, so everything's covered." Hinata blinked and raised her eyebrows curiously; she was positively surprised. She was also shocked and impressed that Kiba had stood behind his words – they had indeed finished working on Friday.

She got back on her feet and walked to Kiba, who immediately opened the computer. She leaned over him, and when the computer was ready, he opened the presentation, showing her every slide. Hinata let out a fascinated sigh and pressed her hand on Kiba's shoulder.

"Thank you so, so much for doing this," she said, and Kiba's ear twitched to the closeness of her breath. He could hear the smile from her voice, and shook his head humbly.

"It's nothing, really. We work as a team, after all, and what kind of a team would we be if we didn't have each other's backs?" he grinned to himself, and Hinata straightened her back, stretching a bit.

"I think I like this whole teamwork thing," she stated, and she wasn't lying. Whereas she had grown rather tired of it at university, working at the Sannin Company had quickly introduced her to the practical pros of group-working – things were done fast, she got to hear another point of view and both had she could rely on someone else. It was so similar yet so different from what she had been used to. Technically nothing had changed, but she felt like it was more useful at work than it had ever been at school.

Kiba nodded enthusiastically and closed the computer, stood up and started to take his quilt away. They both exited the conference room and Hinata closed the door behind them, smiling as she watched Kiba put the quilt back to its place. The brunet groaned; the shelf was rather packed so the piece just wouldn't stay put, especially since he hadn't folded it with enough care. Hinata giggled quietly and shook her head, walking to her and Temari's little office to put her coat on. Soon Kiba did the same, and the two were by the elevators, yawning, Hinata behind her hand and Kiba as openly as always.

"So, how can I make this up to you?" Kiba asked playfully and poked Hinata softly with his elbow. She startled and let out a thoughtful sound, although she already had an idea.

"We could go to a café and you could treat me some coffee and cinnamon rolls? I know one that allows dogs," she said and smiled a bit shyly; she was afraid that she was being too bold, when in fact it was just the right kind of boldness.

"If that's all you're asking for, that's what you'll get," Kiba winked at her as the two entered the elevator, and Hinata felt a small blush creeping its way to her cheeks. Throughout the years she'd grown tired of always blushing, and most of everything, not being able to control it. Kiba noticed the color of her face, but didn't say anything, only grinned to himself in satisfaction. _Man, she's so cute_.

"I'll see you at four by the beach, yeah?" Kiba inquired, and before replying, Hinata checked the time from her phone. It wasn't more than ten in the morning, and she didn't want to spend the next six hours doing nothing, so she swallowed, built her courage and shook her head. Besides, she had figured out that spending time at the beach with Kiba and the dogs would, actually, be a better alternative than staying home with Tenten, if she even was there. She could be with Neji well into the afternoon for all she knew.

"Um, if it's okay with you, we could see earlier. I-I mean, it feels like a waste to leave it so late…" she mumbled, clutching her phone in her hand. Kiba nodded with a wide smile – was he only imagining it, or was the girl actually kind of impatient to see him again?

"Sure, no problem. We both live close by, so we should be there relatively soon. Let's see, how about at one?" Kiba's suggestion got a happy nod from Hinata, who waved at him when they entered the streets.

"I'll see you then," she said brightly and began walking towards the bus stop, whereas Kiba forgot himself just standing there, watching as she went. He couldn't erase the smile from his lips, at least not until he heard a young child say to his mother, _"Mommy, why is that man smiling like that? I'm scared."_ So he shook his head and rushed to his car and started it.

When Hinata got home, she was greeted by a rather impatient Hanabi, who was tapping the tip of her foot on the floor. Momo, however, rushed to greet her happily.

"Sorry, Hanabi," Hinata said sheepishly, smiling apologetically. The younger Hyuga pouted and shrugged.

"So how were you planning to compensate?" she asked, clearly not all that convinced that her older sister actually had a solid plan, which in all honesty was okay; if she didn't, Hanabi sure had an idea of what would be suitable. Hinata pondered for a moment.

"Would you like money?" she asked in a hopeful manner, trying to convince her sister that money was a good option. Hanabi grinned.

"Actually, I saw a nice piece of lingerie in your closet… I was wondering if I could get it, you know, since you don't have much use for it." Hinata turned beet red upon Hanabi's words – she was more than aware of what garment she meant with her words, and the image of the dark red teeny-weeny lace outfit flashed in her eyes. Tenten had, when Hinata turned eighteen, thought it to be a good present, whereas the Hyuga herself didn't agree as much when she had made the mistake to open it in front of her whole family. Hanabi's attention had been elsewhere at the time, not that a thirteen-year-old would've been all that interested in it anyway.

"A-ah, sure," Hinata muttered, still taken aback by her younger sister's request. Well, she _was_ twenty after all… And as she had said, Hinata didn't have much use for such underwear anyway, whereas Hanabi had a boyfriend. The brunette grinned in satisfaction, walked to Hinata and patted her shoulder.

"Good, 'cause I packed it already," she said cheerfully, quickly put on her shoes and jacket, and was soon out of the apartment. "I'll see you later, nee-chan!"

Hinata let out a heavy sigh as she walked to the bathroom and undressed, taking a look at her reflection from the mirror. Her hair was relatively in control and her makeup wasn't too smudged, so at least she looked alright. That didn't, however, erase the fact that she needed her daily shower, as she didn't _feel_ fresh at all.

After the shower she went to her bedroom, her hair, although covered with a towel, dripping water to the wooden floor. She opened her closets and slumped on her bed. _What do I wear?!_

She had to take into consideration quite a few things, starting from the fact that it was late September and that they would go to the beach, which would, naturally, be quite windy. That and a few other things taken into account, she slowly put together an outfit consisting of a white maxi-skirt with tights underneath, and a lavender top, which she then covered with a dark purple parka jacket. She brushed her hair carefully and put it into a low pony tail on the left side of her head, revealing her neck. Seeing as the air was rather crispy, she also put aside a dark purple scarf and black leather gloves that she would put on when it was time for her to go.

She ate a small breakfast and glanced at the time – half past twelve. She put the dishes into the dishwasher and went to the hallway, where Momo was waiting, eager to go out. Hinata smiled at the dog and patted her head while taking the leash.

"We're going to the beach today, Momo," she said with a soft voice, feeling giddy inside when thinking about where she was going. "And also to the nice café near the beach, I'm sure you remember." The dog let out a bright bark and wagged its tail as Hinata put the collar on her. She put the scarf around her neck and the gloves on, sighing heavily. "Let's do this."

Meanwhile, Kiba was running around his apartment with his jeans half-done around his knees, a sandwich hanging from his mouth. Akamaru was lying by the door, staring at his owner amusedly. The brunet buttoned his jeans and began pulling a dark gray jacket with a furry hood on top of his black sweater, finishing the sandwich quickly. He zipped the jacket up and pushed his feet into his sneakers while trying to put his hair under control in front of a small mirror he had on the wall beside the coat rack.

Akamaru stood up and barked impatiently, hinting on that he had to go out and Kiba wasn't helping much. He grinned and took the black leash from the little cupboard he had, putting the collar around the dog's neck.

"Sorry, buddy, we'll go now," he said and rubbed the dog behind its ear, gaining a pleased noise back.

Hinata and Kiba were at the beach around the same time and greeted each other with almost as much excitement as their dogs – Akamaru and Momo were both quick to approach each other curiously, causing their owners to nearly trip on their feet. While the dogs got to know each other with smelling, their human counterparts reached each other and stood next to each other, observing their dogs amusedly.

"He's so cute!" Hinata couldn't help but squeal quietly, adoring the dog before her, completely white with the exception of the brown areas on its ears. "And his fur isn't that bad either, you know."

Kiba grinned and scanned the girl beside him, silently wondering how she didn't seem to show any signs of feeling cold. "Thanks, I take care of it myself."

Hinata chuckled and nodded, then took a step closer to the dogs, who ceased their smelling and turned to the woman. She offered Akamaru her hand for him to smell, but instead the dog jumped on her and nearly caused her to fall to the ground. His paws were on her shoulders and she yelped in surprise as he began licking her face eagerly.

"Akamaru, come on, don't do that!" Kiba groaned and pulled the dog off of his co-worker, who stood back up as she had been forced to squat by Akamaru's attack. Momo glared at the male dog, who avoided Kiba's eyes. "Are you okay, Hinata?"

"I'm fine, and it's okay, dogs tend to kiss me a lot," she laughed and wiped her cheek with the back of her hand. "The café's that way, shall we go?"

Kiba agreed with a nod, and the four approached the café Hinata had been talking about. It was quite spacious and cozy, and Kiba was surprised to see that it wasn't too full. From the warm feeling he got from the café, he had expected it to be popular, especially on a Saturday afternoon. They went on the short line and scanned over the menu, although both knew more or less what they would get.

"How come I haven't come across this place earlier?" the brunet wondered aloud, and Hinata turned to him with a small smile on her lips.

The previous customers left, and they took a step forward, now first in line. "I wouldn't, either, if my sister's boyfriend—"

"What can I get you, Hinata-san?" She was cut off by a cheeky, familiar voice, that she soon recognized as Konohamaru's – said boyfriend of her sister. Kiba raised his eyebrow, whereas Hinata could only gawk, unable to stop the red color from rising to her cheeks.

"U-u-umm—"

"Two coffees and two cinnamon rolls to go, thank you," Kiba smiled at the male as he took a step closer to the counter, digging his wallet from his pocket already. Konohamaru grinned and snapped his fingers.

"Right away, sir."

Hinata tapped her cheeks with her palms and as she raised her eyes up from the floor, she was met with Kiba's brown ones. He had the crooked grin on his lips that revealed one of his fangs. "You okay there, Hinata?"

She nodded quickly, smiling in embarrassment. "Y-yes, don't worry. I was just surprised to see him here…"

"I'm guessing that he's your sister's boyfriend?" Kiba asked and rubbed Akamaru behind his ear, eyeing Hinata playfully. She gave him a positive answer and smiled at Konohamaru when she took the paper bag from the counter, while Kiba paid for the order. The younger brunet leaned against the counter and rested his chin on his right palm, raising his eyebrows suggestively yet curiously at Hinata.

_"Not a single word to Hanabi_," she mouthed at clearly as she could, which caused Konohamaru to chuckle and Kiba raise his head curiously. Deeming that it was nothing, he took his bank card from the machine and took the receipt from the cashier. Hinata knew that if Hanabi got to know that she'd been out with a man, there would be no end to the questions and suggestions, and she didn't want any of that, not when she wasn't sure of how to defend herself.

"Thank you, and please come again," Konohamaru said cheerfully and waved at the two and their dogs, gaining two waves back.

The group got back to the beach and stopped soon, taking a seat on the rather low rock wall. Hinata and Kiba let the dogs free and laughed as they started running around with each other, and Hinata took their coffees and pastries out of the paper bag. She handed Kiba his own and dug in on the cinnamon roll, closing her eyes contently as the flavors began dancing in her mouth.

Kiba held his cup of coffee to his lips and smiled warmly, sipping the hot beverage. Then he fiddled with the cup, moving his eyes from it to Hinata and back, swallowing hard. "Uh, Hinata… can I ask a personal question?"

The indigo-haired blinked and lowered the cinnamon roll to her lap. She bit the insides of her cheeks as Kiba remained quiet even after she had urged him to ask, and felt her heart beat a bit faster.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" _There, I said it._ Kiba pursed his lips shut as soon as the last word had passed his lips, and immediately regretted ever asking anything. Hinata blushed lightly and shook her head, moving her gaze to the ocean.

"No, not now. I had one in university, but it ended a few years ago after he moved overseas to finish his degree," she said with a soft smile, obviously thinking fondly of the memory. Kiba couldn't help the budding disappointment in his heart, and with a frown, opened his mouth again.

"Do you—do you still love him?" he blurted and nearly bit his tongue afterwards. Hinata startled, then laughed lightly while shaking her head, taking Kiba by surprise.

"No such thing. The memories are good, but… no." She turned to look at Kiba, a rare grin taking over her lips. "What about you, any girl in the picture?"

The brunet laughed and scratched the back of his head. "Nope, thanks to that fur ball," he laughed and pointed at Akamaru, who was playing in the shallow water with Momo. "But it's all good, really. Can't have me without the dog, you see."

Hinata chuckled and took a bite of her cinnamon roll. "I get that. Dogs really become a part of you, don't they?"

"You bet," Kiba agreed and eyed the woman warmly, digging into his cinnamon roll as well. The more time he spent with Hinata, the harder time he had convincing himself that there were no romantic feelings involved on his part, and the more he wanted to continue getting to know her. The initial attraction was slowly extending from her looks and general nature further into her personality, and every new part he discovered was something that he treasured.

The two drank and ate and Hinata thanked Kiba politely, which the brunet humbly took in, saying that it was only fair. They started walking along the shore with the dogs walking in front of them, and Hinata was quick to get her phone out of the pocket of her jacket.

She turned to the ocean and took a picture of the sun shining in the horizon… only that Kiba jumped in front of it, and got captured instead. Hinata checked the picture and laughed quietly. "Just so you know, I refuse to delete this." Kiba laughed and ran to her in order to see the picture, which actually wasn't too bad. The sun shone behind his head and the camera of the phone had managed to capture every single detail of his playful expression, everything from the crooked grin to the closed right eye.

"That's alright, I wouldn't let you to delete it anyway," he grinned and snatched the phone from Hinata's hands, causing her to gasp. "And now it's your time."

Instead of an artistic picture of her by the ocean and the sun, however, he got a sequence of pictures of Hinata trying to get her phone back while laughing heartily, and surprisingly none of the pictures was too horrible. By the time the Hyuga got her phone back, she had forced Kiba to back at least three meters.

"There you go," the brunet said playfully and handed the phone back to its owner, who eyed him skeptically with squinted eyes, as if expecting him to take it back again. He raised his hands in the air. "Don't worry, it's all yours."

Hinata smiled and took a grip on Kiba's arm, pulling him with her. "Come on, the dogs are waiting." She had a hard time believing that she was now comfortable enough to make the initial touch with the brunet, but it felt quite nice. Kiba had that comforting, safe aura surrounding himself, which Hinata felt strongly.

When the two reached their dogs, the female let Kiba's arm go a bit hesitantly and held her phone up again, taking a few pictures of their dogs walking side by side and occasionally playing for a bit. Kiba stood by her and looked at her phone's screen as she snapped the pictures.

"Do you like photography?" he asked, and Hinata turned to face him for a moment. She shrugged.

"I think so, but I do it more for the memories," she smiled and went to her photo library, showing Kiba the numerous folders, all of which had a content number of three digits. He let out an amazed _'wow'_ and let his mouth hang open.

"Now _that's_ a lot of pictures."

"I know," Hinata blushed lightly and locked her phone, putting it into her pocket. "But it's nice to go through them every now and then and reminisce on all the things that have happened."

Kiba grinned smugly and crossed his hands behind his head. "So at some point you'll be going through those pictures and be like, _'Ah, this is the time I went to the beach with Kiba, the handsome guy from work'_?"

Hinata chuckled, the blush still evident on her cheeks, and nodded. "Pretty much, yes."

"Then you better take more pictures to remind you of this day," he suggested, and she was quick to comply, taking pictures of him, the ocean, the dogs, and when she relaxed enough, even a few pictures of them together. Pictures with friends were always good to have, right? She wasn't used to having male friends, but she assumed that maybe the odd feeling she had in her stomach was a part of that. She'd have to ask Tenten about it.

After a couple of hours the two and the dogs walked slowly away from the beach, to Hinata's apartment building. The streets were busy, as one would expect from an early Saturday evening, when the two reached the entrance door. Momo and Akamaru were smelling each other calmly, while Kiba and Hinata stood awkwardly, unsure of what to do or say.

"T-thanks for today, I had a lot of fun," Hinata said with a broad smile, playing with her tied hair nervously. Kiba grinned and nodded, saying that he had fun, too. Silence fell again, and Hinata was about to say goodbye when she felt Kiba grab her gloved hand. She moved her attention to their hands, and with that, she felt him kiss her softly on the cheek.

Her eyes widened and she felt her body grow warm, her heart beating fast and hard against her rib cage. As there was no reaction, Kiba quickly pulled back and hit his forehead with his hand, unable to hide his red face.

"God, I'm so sorry, I thought—I'm—I'll see you at work," he said so fast that the dazed Hinata could barely make sense out of his words, and he ran away with Akamaru. Hinata remained there, with her knees buckling slightly, and was only brought back to her senses by a bright squeal.

"Oh my God, Hinata-chan, was that Kiba from work?!" Tenten exclaimed, slamming both of her hands on Hinata's shoulders. She turned to face her with a confused, worried expression, which her friend was quick to interpret. The bright expression fell from the brunette's face as she tapped Hinata's shoulders comfortingly. "Alright, let's go in. You look like we need to talk."

Hinata had quite possibly never felt as relieved to go home. It wasn't like she wouldn't have had any experience of romance - she had had a lovely few years with her college sweetheart, actually - but she felt contradicted. On one hand her workplace forbade any romantic relationships between its employees (but Neji was dating Tenten, right?), but on the other hand Kiba had just shown that he held warm feelings towards her, and she was unable to deny that maybe, just maybe, there was a growing part of her that was very interested in the brunet. If the familiarity that had developed between them wasn't enough proof for her, her body's reaction to his lips on her cheek was.

The last time she had felt that way had, if she recalled correctly, been when her ex-boyfriend had kissed her for the first time, when she had harbored feelings already. All this led her to the same conclusion as Tenten; they truly needed to talk.

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><p><strong>AN: So, how was it? ;A; Moving too fast, moving too slow? Reviews are encouraged and very welcome~ The next chapter should be out way sooner than this one was. :3**


	5. Chapter 5: Giving it a go

**A/N: And here's chapter 5, a lot later than I promised - sorry! I think it's safer if I don't guess when the next chapter will be out in the future... orz Huge thanks for the favorites and follows for this story, I'm glad that you like it! ^^ Anyway, I hope you like this chapter! **

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><p>Hinata and Tenten went upstairs and took their outerwear off, and the Hyuga let Momo free before slumping on their red couch. Tenten frowned and walked into the kitchen to make some tea, returning to Hinata as soon as the tea had been poured into two cups. She handed her friend the other cup and took a seat next to her, patiently waiting for the quiet blunette to start. Hinata stared at the black tea, inhaling its calming scent.<p>

"Tenten, I'm… so confused," Hinata finally sighed while trying to find comfort in the warmth of the tea cup, which slowly soothed her. Tenten frowned and scooted closer to her friend, waiting for her to continue; she had noticed the way her voice was somehow lingering in the air, signaling that she'd continue as soon as she had put her thoughts together. "I—he—it's against the rules."

The brunette gave Hinata a sympathetic look and stroked her arm gently. "At work?" She got a nod. Tenten pondered for a moment, as she had two alternatives – she could either reassure the Hyuga that the rules were easy to go around (and be blamed if she got fired), or she could recommend her to stay away from Kiba and help her keep her job.

Unfortunately, Tenten was known well for taking risks whenever possible.

"Do you like him?" she asked boldly, raising her eyebrows curiously, slightly amused as Hinata blushed in her characteristically heavy nature.

"I've barely known him for a week, I couldn't—"

"Are you _attracted_ to him?" the brunette corrected herself, meaningfully eyeing her friend, who didn't want anything more than to disappear, or at least become the size of her pinky finger.

"I guess so," Hinata admitted quietly and bit her lip, eyes tightly on her tea. Sure, Kiba was attractive and made her feel all tingly inside, and she had that weird feeling in her stomach when she was near him, and she loved his smile, and… "I mean, he's just so… he makes me feel so warm inside, and he's got all these attractive features, and—"

"See, that's why I'd say that you might _like_ him, dear friend," Tenten nudged her before wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "So, I would like you to go for it." Hinata's eyes widened as she stared at her friend in awe, amazed that she could even suggest such a thing.

"But—"

"Keep it under wraps and Jiraiya-sama won't notice a thing; _trust me_," the brunette laughed and smacked Hinata's back in what she hoped was an encouraging manner. "Are you going to talk to him before Monday? He seemed to dash off pretty upset…"

Hinata shrugged and took a sip of her tea, sighing heavily as she put her cup on the coffee table. "I guess I should… but what would I say?" she asked and hopelessly looked into Tenten's bright hazel eyes. She'd never thought that she'd have to ask such trivial questions, but apparently the situation had gotten the best of her.

"Tell him that you like him, of course!" Hinata slapped her arm in discontent, waiting for another answer. "I don't know, maybe start off by explaining yourself and that you're not, uh, offended by what he did?"

"Uh-huh…" the blunette muttered with a small frown, silently wondering why she'd be offended in the first place. It wasn't like Kiba's lips on her cheek would've been any kind of an insult, after all. While she was wondering, Tenten sneaked Hinata's cellphone out of her pocket, opened the lock and searched for Kiba from the contacts. Pressing 'call', she then pushed the device to Hinata's ear; the startled Hyuga could only yelp and gawk. "T-Tenten!"

"_Talk to him_," her friend ordered sternly, and it was clear that _'no'_ was not an answer she would take. Hinata swallowed and hesitantly took the phone from Tenten, holding it with both of her shaking hands, nervously listening to the beeps for almost a minute before the line was cut off. She lowered her phone and stared at the screen, then moved her gaze to Tenten.

"He didn't pick up…"

"Figured as much," Tenten said with a playful roll of her eyes as Hinata gave her phone back to her, and then went to Hinata's messages, selected Kiba's number and returned the phone to its owner. Hinata took a deep breath, then started typing.

_Dear Kiba_

"Aren't those things for e-mails?"

"If you want me to send this, shut it."

"…Fine, fine, it's good the way it is."

_Dear Kiba,_

_I hope you're okay. I'm sorry about what happened earlier, you just took me by surprise. _

_I would like to talk to you soon, so if you're free before Monday, how about we go for some coffee?_

_Anyhow, I had a lovely afternoon with you – thank you! I hope we can do it again sometime._

_Hinata_

"Is it good?" Hinata asked nervously and handed Tenten her phone, and the brunette scanned through the message, only modifying the end a bit.

_Love, Hinata_

"W-won't that give him ideas?" Hinata squeaked, almost reaching for her phone to take off the word _love_. Tenten, however, managed to assure her that it was okay.

"Would the ideas be misleading, then?" the brunette asked with a wink, and the Hyuga was only able to shook her head.

"There you go – sent," Tenten smiled proudly, patting Hinata's shoulder. "If he doesn't answer, you'll just have to clear things out on Monday."

"Oh, that'd be awful," the Hyuga groaned and hid her face in her hands, letting out a pained sigh. "The last thing I want to do is to talk about this at work with everyone around us…"

"Well, there are more private places, too," Tenten hinted and gave Hinata back her tea. She thanked her friend and pushed her phone as far away from herself as possible, focusing on the fact that it was Saturday, which meant that there was no work to worry about until Monday – and if all went god, nothing else to worry about, either.

* * *

><p>Akamaru was lying on his large dog bed in the corner of Kiba's room as he stared at his owner, who was lying on his bed facing the pillow, occasionally letting out a loud groan that was almost like a scream. The dog had, as far as it could remember, had better Saturdays; he was having a lovely time with the beautiful golden retriever, but then the idiotic brunet just had to blow it and run away! Who knew if he'd ever see her again?<p>

Kiba's groan was interrupted when his phone started ringing. He hesitantly raised himself on his elbows, and he felt his heart in his throat when he read his screen – _Hinata-chan_.

"Oh, no no no," he said quickly and turned his phone on silent, hitting his face against the pillow again. He wasn't ready to talk to her just yet, not with his pride long gone. The vibrating continued for almost a minute until it finally stopped. Kiba sighed in relief, turning to his side and grabbing his phone just to clear the call and lock it again.

He was just about to fall asleep when his phone buzzed again, this time with a message – and this time he actually opened it, although he was still rather hesitant. He read through the message three times, going through a wave of different feelings throughout it. He felt like he was an idiot; he felt grateful that Hinata didn't hate him; and her felt oddly warm when he read the last words.

"_Love, Hinata_, huh?" he said out loud, smiling a bit before locking his phone again. As sorry as he felt, just like he wasn't able to talk about it, he wasn't able to write about it, either. Akamaru barked loudly, startling Kiba momentarily. He glared at the dog for a few seconds before he hit his head back to the pillow he had been facing for the past half an hour.

"I'll message her later, alright?" he mumbled as he took a more comfortable position he could potentially also sleep in. Akamaru exhaled heavily and put his chin on his paws. Right.

Sunday was uneventful – Kiba was swiftly blocking the previous day from his mind, and Hinata didn't dare to send him any more messages. It was as if they were keeping everything on hold, which didn't quite bother either one. Not until the next day, that was.

* * *

><p>It was Monday morning, and Hinata was dreading going to work more than she had dreaded anything since… well, <em>anything<em>! She'd put on a loose beige button-up shirt with black dress pants and similarly colored pumps, which was as comfortable as she could get without standing out too much at work. Her hair was floating free and her face barely had any makeup covering it; she didn't trust her shaky hands with mascara or lipstick, so she'd have to do without. Instead she had on a light coat of lip balm and the regular foundation and powder combination; she was glad that her eyelashes were naturally rather dark and long.

When she arrived on the floor she worked in, the first thing she did when the elevator doors opened was to look for Kiba – and without a doubt, there he was, moving his widened eyes away from the elevator before Hinata could even register him properly. She bit her lip and held the strap of her bag in a death grip, exiting the elevator with Tenten.

Kiba could feel his heart beating at a ridiculous speed, so he tried to think about something that would calm him down. The beach, with the waves hitting against the shore and Akamaru running near the waterline, and the sun shining brightly, causing Hinata's hair to glow beautifully… Wait, _what_? Kiba groaned inwardly and shook his head, trying to erase the image from his head. Thinking about her was the last thing that would calm him down!

Shikamaru stepped into the office and stared at Kiba, his left eyebrow raised questioningly. "You good, bro?" Kiba merely gave him a thumbs-up, to which the Nara frowned. _So, the oddness continues_, Shikamaru thought and rolled his eyes. He wasn't sure if he liked the new Kiba more than the goofball he'd spent the past six months with – maybe he'd figure it out at some point.

Meanwhile, Temari turned on her chair to Hinata, scrutinizing her as she took her jacket off and slowly took a seat on her own chair. She didn't look much like the bright Hinata the blonde had seen the previous week, so she couldn't help but wonder.

"Are you okay, Hinata? You look a bit… different," she asked, squinting her eyes. _Has something happened_?

"Ah, I just left some makeup away today," Hinata smiled sweetly, tucking some hair behind her ear. "How was your weekend, Temari-san?"

"Very relaxing, thank you," the blonde smirked, trying to push away her curiosity about the Hyuga's situation; it would be too suspicious if she insisted on continuing with the subject as a first thing in the morning. However, seeing as Kiba and Hinata had had the project on Friday and were now both acting in an odd manner, it was only natural for her to have her suspicions. "You?"

"It was… uh, alright," Hinata nodded, as if trying to convince herself that that indeed was the case. And technically she wasn't even lying – she had loved the visit to the beach with Kiba! She was about to ask Temari if she had marked their project done, but that was exactly when she heard Tenten clear her throat.

"Hyuga-san and Inuzuka-san, would you please come to the vice president's office?" the brunette requested with a clear, bright voice, with a nearly as bright smile on her face. Kiba and Hinata both gulped as they stood up and entered the office after the assistant, who then shut the door behind them. Neji cracked his knuckles and eyed the two employees up and down, then gave them an approving nod.

"I see you managed to finish the project on Friday, and I must say, I'm very impressed," he said with a small smile that surprised both Kiba and Hinata; but mostly only the former. "Keep up the good work, you two. You'll get your next project tomorrow, so just take it easy today, you've earned it. You're dismissed." The two left with deep bows and Tenten closed the door again, facing a frowning Neji.

"Something wrong?" she asked, walking closer to him and sitting lightly on the edge of the mahogany desk.

"I have a feeling that something's off with those two…" Neji murmured, then shook his head and opened a file in front of him. "Must be just me, never mind."

Tenten grinned and gave Neji a quick peck on the cheek before going back to her own desk. "I'll tell you later."

Neji raised an eyebrow curiously, but didn't move his eyes from the papers. "Lunch?"

Tenten smiled to herself as she opened the e-mail program on her computer. "Mmhmm."

The first four hours passed unusually slowly for Hinata and Kiba. She used her time replying to some e-mails she'd gotten during the weekend for one reason or another, whereas Kiba had finished his assignments, once again, in record time, and was now amusing himself with solitaire. Shikamaru and Temari were speculating on the situation between the two amidst their work, and by lunch they both had an idea – something had happened. They just didn't know what it exactly was, yet Temari was confident in it being in her favour anyway.

As soon as the clock hit twelve, Hinata put her computer to sleep, grabbed her wallet and hurried to the elevator, only to see that Kiba was the only one inside. Gathering all of her courage, she still entered the elevator with a warm smile on her lips.

"G-good morning, Kiba—" she could barely finish her sentence as the elevator was soon packed with employees to the maximum, which then forced her to push against Kiba. By reflex, she put her hands on his well-built chest for balance, and she could feel the scent of his cologne filling her nose, whereas her apple-scented shampoo was taking over Kiba's senses, too. He shut his eyes and slowly moved his hands to Hinata's elbows, just leaving them there.

Hinata looked up at him in surprise, then lowered her face with a smile playing on her lips when she'd seen the calm look on the brunet's face.

The elevator reached the lowest floor and the people slowly flowed out of it. When Kiba was about to step out too, however, Hinata was quick to grab his arm.

"We need to talk," she forced out of her mouth, unable to face Kiba's eyes. He blinked a couple of times before nodding and scratching the back of his head.

"Uh, let's have lunch together again?" he suggested, gaining a nod from the female. In silence, the two then went to the cafeteria, got their lunches and found a quiet corner for two. Setting their food on the table and sitting down, Kiba cleared his throat. "So, uh, I'm sorry."

Hinata's eyes widened a fraction, but she quickly melted into a smile and shook her head. "Don't be. I'm actually kind of glad you didn't reply to the message, I was quite embarrassed," she said with a chuckle, resisting the urge to cover her face. Kiba snickered as he took a forkful of his chicken salad into his mouth.

"_You_ were embarrassed? I wanted to bury myself under a rock!" he laughed, but soon regained his serious expression. "Thanks for the message though, it kind of decreased the embarrassment."

Hinata blushed slightly as she moved her eyes from Kiba's face to her food and gulped. If the conversation kept going that way, it was only a matter of time when they'd end up talking about the event. However, she was still glad that things didn't seem too awkward between them - talking with him was a lot easier than she had feared during the weekend. "T-that's good. I really did have a fun time."

Kiba smiled to himself, wondering if he should bring up what he really wanted to ask. He cleared his throat once again, which caused Hinata to instantly dart her eyes back to him.

"So, um, the… kiss," Kiba began hesitantly, lowering his voice so that no one could hear – not that the chances would've been too high anyway, taking into account the loudness of the cafeteria. Hinata immediately became more alert and blushed a deeper shade of red, nodding briskly. _There's no going back now_, Kiba thought himself and bit his lower lip with his fangs. "You… mentioned that you were taken by a surprise?" _Oh, God, that was weirdly put_.

Hinata nodded and fiddled with the hem of her dress shirt, trying to be careful not to cause it to wrinkle too much. "Y-yes. I didn't see it coming, so I didn't know what to do…" she said quietly, stating the obvious and effectively avoiding Kiba's gaze.

"You make it sound as if it doesn't bother you in too negative a way," Kiba said with a nervous laugh and rolled pieces of chicken on his plate, only freezing when Hinata gave the slowest nod he had ever witnessed. He squinted his eyes and leaned a bit over the table. "I'm right, aren't I?"

Hinata jumped at the suddenly shortened distance and quickly met Kiba's eyes in front of hers, gasping. Her mind felt blank as she did her best not to lose herself in his deep brown eyes, but it was difficult. When Kiba finally sat back on his seat, Hinata let out a breath and collected her thoughts. "I-it doesn't really bother me. What I'm concerned about is h-how you feel about me," she said with a barely audible voice, tearing her eyes off of Kiba's eyes. She mentally cursed her stutter, but honestly, with the pace her heart was beating in, she couldn't help it.

Kiba, for one of the first times in his life, was now speechless. Was Hinata really implying what he thought she was? Either way, now was the time for him to tell her – as if it wasn't obvious already.

"I like you," Kiba said bluntly, careful not to let any extra ears hear his words. "You're really kind and sweet, and a lot of fun to be around. I think… I think I'd like to be around you a lot in the future, too."

Hinata couldn't help the wide smile that took over her lips when she heard Kiba's words, and she observed his nervous demeanor with slight amusement. At least she wasn't the only nervous one. "I would like to be around you a lot, too. But…"

"The rules?"

"Yeah." Just as Hinata sighed, however, she remembered Tenten's words, and immediately lit back up. "I think there's a way… no, but it's risky, I'm not sure if we should…"

Kiba raised his eyebrows and leaned closer to her, this time not as much as earlier. "Just spill it."

"T-Tenten said that it would be somewhat easy not to get caught," Hinata squeaked, but then chuckled. "And honestly, I don't doubt that, I mean, she's managed to survive with Neji for four years already…"

Kiba's eyes widened and he had to work hard to keep his shout more as a whisper. "They're together?!"

Hinata giggled and put her right forefinger before her lips to signal that Kiba should be quiet, amused that Kiba indeed had no idea – to her it was the most obvious thing, naturally, and she couldn't understand how one didn't see it. "Very much so."

Kiba seemed thoughtful for a moment, thinking things through, and finally smiled proudly. "I'm confident we could do it." Hinata raised her eyebrows and gave Kiba a small smile as she started her small portion of pasta.

"I'm not sure if I should trust you right away," she said and tucked some of her hair behind her ear, tasting the delicious cream sauce on her pasta. Kiba sneered and clicked his tongue smugly.

"Didn't I already prove myself on Friday?" he asked, raising his eyebrows meaningfully. Hinata smiled widely with a nod, which was enough to make Kiba smile, too. "Ah, the break's over. We'll continue this later, alright?"

"Most definitely. Let's leave together at the end of the day, shall we?" Hinata suggested, releasing a relieved sigh when Kiba agreed – not that it was that much of a surprise, really. They went to take their remaining lunch to the trash, regretful that so much food had to go to waste, but at the end of the day, neither was too hungry.

They went upstairs with a similarly packed elevator, where Hinata was, for the first time, greeted by some of the other employees of her floor. Gaara gave her a polite nod and a low greeting along with his name, whereas Naruto was quick to offer the puzzled Hyuga his hand, enthusiastically introducing himself. In no time, however, the blond had Sakura's strong fist planted on the top of his head; the pinkette smiled sweetly to Hinata and introduced herself.

"I'm so sorry about this little idiot, he tends to be a bit too friendly," Sakura hissed, keeping Naruto strictly under her control. The blond pouted, defeated, muttering something along the lines of 'You like me anyway.' Hinata chuckled and shook her head.

"It's okay, I don't really mind," she said and shook Naruto's hand, which was still held in front of her.

"You must be the first person to say that," Sakura laughed heartily and let Naruto go as the elevator doors opened. The blond dashed away quickly, as if afraid of the pinkette taking a hold of him again, whereas the said woman took a step closer to Hinata. "Then again, you do seem to get along with Inuzuka, too."

Hinata blinked a couple of times and stammered, "I—N-no, that—"

"Relax, relax," Sakura laughed and patted Hinata's shoulder, "It's not like I'm going to yell it around. And if it makes you feel more at ease – no, it's not that transparent, I'm just good at noticing things."

"That's good," Hinata huffed with her hand on her chest, trying to calm down her rapidly beating heart. "For a while I really thought otherwise…"

"I should be offended that you think I'm like that," the pinkette said with mock shock before giggling and exiting the elevator together with the Hyuga. "I'll see you around, Hinata-chan."

"See you, Sakura-san," Hinata smiled at her and walked to her office with a content feeling taking over her. Temari sat on her chair expectantly, squinting her eyes as her officemate sat down.

"Hinata, c'mere," she said and gestured the indigo-haired woman to come to her, which she confusedly did. "Really now, what's up with you and Kiba?" The way Hinata turned beet red was almost a sufficient answer alone, but Temari needed a full-on confession.

The Hyuga poked her forefingers together; a habit she'd developed in kindergarten already; and avoided the blonde's strict eyes. "I-I'm not sure I should tell you," she muttered. Temari moved closer with her wheeled chair and brought her hand to Hinata's ear before leaning closer herself.

"You like him, don't you?" she rather stated than asked. At the back of her mind Hinata wondered why the blonde was so interested about her and Kiba, but shrugged it off.

"Well, he is very sweet," the Hyuga whispered with a fond smile, the color of her face slowly returning to a pale one. Temari smirked – she'd won the bet, now she was sure. She tapped Hinata's shoulder and wished her luck, taking the blunette a bit aback; was there _anyone_ in the office that gave any weight to the relationship ban? She'd have to figure it out later, as so far she knew of Tenten and Neji for sure, had a couple of doubts about Naruto and Sakura, and was now under the impression that Temari had a boyfriend within the office, too.

Kiba continued playing solitaire well into the day, and only stopped whenever he saw that he had mail to reply to, even if a couple of them happened to be from his mother, and were not, in that sense, too much of a priority.

When the day finished, Kiba and Hinata were the last ones to leave, on purpose. They didn't exchange words before entering the elevator – instead, they scanned each other and exchanged a few small smiles and happy gazes.

As they entered the elevator, their hands brushed against each other. The doors closed and they began descending, and soon Hinata inhaled and held her breath, taking a gentle hold of Kiba's large hand. He turned his eyes to their linked hands and took a hold of the small hand, then moved his eyes to Hinata's gleaming lavender orbs.

He melted into a gentle smile and rubbed the back of her fingers with his thumb, whereas she took a step so that she was standing in front of Kiba instead of being beside him.

"Let's take it slow, though, okay?" she asked quietly, placing her free hand on Kiba's left shoulder.

"Wouldn't even dare to rush things," he replied huskily, pulling the Hyuga into a hug. She laughed heartily, taking in the pleasant scent of Kiba's cologne.

She pulled away when they were nearing the lowest floor and sighed. "It's going to be really stressful…"

"We'll find a way," Kiba smiled and released Hinata's hand. "If it comes down to it, we can ask your cousin for tips."

Hinata chuckled and shook her head. "Tenten might actually be willing to help, but I doubt Neji will be too helpful."

And indeed, he wouldn't be – the said brunet was nearly having a breakdown in his office at the same time, having just heard the news from Tenten during a shoulder massage. Massages were supposed to be relaxing, but instead he was feeling more tense than he had before!

"Him and my cousin? _My_ cousin?!" the vice president exclaimed in shock, his voice unnaturally unsteady. Tenten covered her ears and laughed with a nod. Oddly enough, she was enjoying this a lot; the usually very calm Neji on the verge of lashing out. "But what if they get caught and she gets fired? What if he hurts her? If that happens, I'll fire _him_, dammit!"

His girlfriend laughed heartily, continuing the massage. "Deep breaths, Neji, deep breaths. Hinata-chan is an adult and it's her life, so let it be. She knows what she's doing. …I think."

"Oh, I doubt she does. She's had one – ONE – relationship, and she got hurt in that one, too. Maybe she draws herself on the bad guys and will continue getting hurt?" Neji scowled as he kept creating the worst-case scenarios in his mind, then moaned as Tenten began massaging his temples.

"Until now you thought that he was one of your nicest employees, and now you feel like he's the worst person there exists?" she asked amusedly, kissing the top of Neji's head. "Try to think rationally, honey."

The Hyuga nodded slowly, frowning. "…But I _will_ fire him if anything happens."

"Sure you will, honey, sure you will," Tenten chuckled and patted her boyfriend's shoulders before moving to her own desk in order to pack up. "I'll be leaving now, I'll see you tomorrow."

Neji gave her a small smile as he bid her goodbye, falling into his thoughts instantly after she had left. _Him and my dear cousin, huh… We'll see how this turns out._

* * *

><p>Temari sat in Shikamaru's car, nearly unable to hold her smugness in control as she broke out: "They like each other!"<p>

The brunet groaned and hit his forehead against the stirring wheel, an action enabled by the fact that they were stuck in heavy traffic. "Dammit, I was counting on her!"

Temari stuck her tongue out, arranging her hair with a content smile. "So was I, I just happened to be on the right side." Shikamaru sighed and turned to face his girlfriend.

"Choose a restaurant and I'll take you out tomorrow," he said, caressing her hand near her seat. She smirked and whispered the name of the most expensive restaurant there was, causing Shikamaru's eyes to widen and his mouth to hang open. "…Any other places, dear?"

"I was kidding," she laughed and slapped Shikamaru's hand playfully, leaning against the back of her seat. "Seriously speaking, I'd like to try out the new French restaurant."

The brunet instantly remembered that he had read good reviews on the restaurant, including that the prices weren't too high, and therefore he nodded. "French cuisine it is."

For a few minutes the couple sat silently whilst moving slowly, until Shikamaru had to stopdue to the traffic once more, and he chuckled. "So, Kiba and the Hyuga, huh?"

"Don't tell me you didn't see it coming," Temari deadpanned, scanning her pocket calendar for what she had planned for the next day. Shikamaru shook his head in amusement.

"No, I did, just not this fast. How did you—" he began, but then squinted his eyes as it hit him. "You have everyone's schedules – you must've had more information than I did."

Temari pursed her lips and started looking out of the window while nonchalantly putting her calendar back into her bag. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Just admit it, Temari, you cheated," the brunet laughed, amused to find out that his usually very honest girlfriend had wanted to play safe.

"Fine, fine! But it was only this one time, I swear," the blonde said and pouted, crossing her arms. Shikamaru eyed her softly, focusing on the road once more.

"Don't worry, I still love you," he muttered and saw from the corner of his eye that Temari was smiling. He pulled over and turned to her, leaning in to kiss her. She caressed his hand and kissed him back, nibbling at his lower lip right before pulling away.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Shikamaru said as she got out of the car while waving at him, not returning any words. He shook his head with a smile, getting back on the road. "I'll get back at you, sweetheart."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I'm still not sure of how I feel about this chapter, but I hope you liked it, and also thanks for reading! :) I would really appreciate reviews so that I would be more aware of what I'm doing right and where I could improve, let it be about the writing, the characters or the plot~ **


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